The True Ultimate
by Mystery002
Summary: Sequel to Trinity of Ultimates. After fighting the newly reborn Eclipse, Shadow and the rest of the group prepare for the final showdown with the mighty hedgehog. Who will be victorious and prove once and for all that they are the True Ultimate Life Form?
1. Countdown to the Ultimate Battle

Chapter 1

It was now one day after the group of heroes had faced the newly reborn Eclipse. After a long discussion, everyone decided it best to stick together in case Eclipse showed up again. It was still raining outside with thunder and lighting shaking the skies.

The group was currently in Rouge the Bat's mansion, sitting in the living room watching the news on the big screen. Shadow was upstairs in the guest bathroom taking a shower.

"And now for the weather." A brunette lady in a blue suit announced.

The screen swapped to an old bald man with glasses standing in front of a huge world map.

"Thanks Susan. A freak storm has been brewing in every single part of the world. Although not powerful, this storm is what scientists call the beginning of the apocalypse."

Amber looked on with interest and addressed Rouge without turning to her.

"Do you think Eclipse and Shadow could have something to do with this?"

"I have no idea." She answered.

Just then the doorbell rang. Rouge hopped off the couch to answer it and was met with none other than Amy Rose and Cream the Rabbit, both in yellow raincoats.

"Hiya Rouge." Amy chirped.

"Hello Ms. Rouge." Cream addressed respectfully while bowing her head a little.

"Oh my goodness, you guys are soaked! Come on in." Rouge motioned with her hand and the two females stepped inside.

"Let me get your coats." Rouge asked politely. Amy and Cream both pulled off their coats and Rouge hung them up on an oak wood coat rack. Amy, Cream and Rouge both proceeded to the white couches in front of the TV. Amy looked over at Amber and shrieked.

"W-W-What's she doing here?" Amy quivered.

Rouge gave Amy a questioning look and widened her eyes.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, that's right, you got knocked out by that boulder when she teleported us."

Amy scoffed. "Don't remind me."

"Well don't you worry, Amber had a little change of heart."

Amy faced her. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Amber shrugged. "No problem."

Amy continued while lowering her head a little. "I'm just sorry you never saw Shadow."

"Somebody call me?" A deep voice spoke.

Everyone whirled around to face Shadow in the doorway of the living room. He was soaked from head to toe and was stroking his quills. A blue towel surrounded his waist and he had discarded his gloves, sleeves, socks, and air shoes. Small dropelets of water ran down his body and on to the floor.

Rouge gasped slightly and her face grew hot. Sure, she had seen Shadow like this plenty of times but now that his fur clung to his tan skin, you could see every powerful muscle in the dark hedgehog's body. The bat turned away to hide her rose face.

Amy screamed.

"S-Sha-adow?"

The dark hedgehog faced her and Rouge looked back, regaining her face's heat.

"What?"

Amy's eyes got even bigger and he fainted. Cream took no notice to this and continued to look at Shadow.

"Is it really you mister Shadow?"

Shadow smirked. "The one and only."

By now Amy had begun to stir and her eyes slowly fluttered open. They shot open when laying eyes upon Shadow.

"Is it really you?"

Shadow sighed. "Yes Rose hedgehog."

"But how… I thought he… didn't you die?"

Shadow scowled. "I suppose so."

"Then how are you back?"

"Yeah Shadow." Sonic cut in. "We never did figure out why you and Eclipse are back."

Amy gasped. "That white hedgehog is back too?"

Shadow nodded.

"So why are you back Shadow?" Knuckles asked.

"Does it really matter?" Rouge cut in.

"Yes it does." Knuckles retorted and turned to Shadow again.

Shadow sighed and sat down, making a small water mark on the couch.

" Well, I think that when I used my Chaos Nova and killed both me and Eclipse…"

Rouge winced at that remark.

"…I overloaded the Chaos Emeralds with the Chaos power in my bodyand according to Sonic, they shattered."

"But how are you back?" Tail asked.

"Well, when they shattered, I was shattered. When they were destroyed, I was destroyed. So when they were reformed, I reformed."

"But how?" Cream asked.

"I believe certain people have special bonds to the Chaos Emeralds. This includes Eclipse, Amber, Sonic, Knuckles, and I. I don't know about the rest of you."

"Hmmmmm, strange." Rouge whispered.

Shadowsat there for a while in deep thought along with everyon else. After a few minutes, he got off the couch and disappeared into his room upstairs, shutting the door. The rest of the group relaxed again and turned their attention towards the TV.

Once Shadow was in his room, he removed the towel from his waist, throwing in a hamperand sat on his bed. The hedgehog pulled his socks and shoes on. Afterwards, he pulled his sleeves and gloves on and one of his rings.

"Where is the other one?" Shadow murmured. That's when it hit him.

FLASHBACK

The group was waiting patiently for Shadow's return when he appeared in a flash of silver light. His Hyper powered body was emmitting a powerful light upon the group.

"Shadow, did ya beat him?" Sonic asked.

Shadow shook his head.

"Why?" Knuckles asked.

"I still could not generate enough power to destroy him."

"Shadow, there has to be a way." Amy said.

"Well, there is one attack I could use. It would surely wipe him out."

"Then why didn't you use it yet?" Tails asked innocently.

"The cost is very high and I wanted to say goodbye first."

Everyone's eyes widened.

"Shadow, what do you mean?" Rouge stammered.

Instead of answering the question, Shadow floated over to her.

He then lifted his super powered hand and caressed the beautiful bat's cheek with the back of his hand.

"I wanted to thank you Rouge."

"For what Shadow?"

"For showing me a love I have not seen for 50 years." Shadow smiled while speaking. And not just a smirk of pride, but a smile of true happiness.

"Shadow what are you talking about?" Rouge asked.

Shadow lowered his hand to his arm and removed one of his golden bracelets. He opened Rouge's hand and laid it in the palm of her hand softly closing her hand. He then floated away from her and faced the entire group.

"I would also like to thank the rest of you. Thank you for giving me friendship. Something I have not had in 50 years…."

"…Goodbye Everyone."

Everyone's eyes widened and Rouge had tears in her eyes. "Shadow w-what are you"-

At that moment Shadow disappeared with Chaos Control.

Rouge stuck out her hand while tears flew from her eyes.

"SHADOOOOOOOOW!"

END FLASHBACK

Shadow looked around his blank, gray room for a second. Only a bed, a dresser, a lamp, and a window with a stormy and rainy picture withinin sight.

"Yes, Rouge has it. Hmm, she might as well keep it seeing I gave it to her and she isapperently still wearing it."

Shadow tightened his gloves around his fists and walked out of his room.


	2. Training

Chapter 2

Shadow walked back out to the living room. He looked around and caught Amber and Knuckles sitting on one couch, Amy squeezing the life out of Sonic on the second, Cream and Tails on the third, and Rouge on the last.

Shadow proceeded to the free space next to Rouge and sat down. He turned his head towards the TV and began to be lost in it.

Crimson Island

Huge volcanoes rocketed the giant red and black island as lava spewed from numerous titanic mountains.

Through the red and black haze flew a giant figure, swiftly throwing lighting fast punches at air. Its giant wings cleared the smoke to reveal it as Chaos Eclipse.

The giant beast was indeed, as he intended, training to control its enormous new powers. It stopped throwing punches and aimed a giant hand at a nearby volcano.

Giant silver lighting bolts crackled around the hand of the beast.

"CHAOS BOMB!"

A giant silver energy ball flew from Eclipse's hand and shot towards the volcano. The beast turned its mighty body around and closed his eyes.

The attack made impact, completely engulfing the volcano and sending lava and ash into the air. The monster was unfazed, keeping its eyes closed, and smirked.

Rouge's Mansion

The long peaceful silence with only the TV being heard was interrupted when the giant oak door of the mansion was opened. Rain and wind blew inside before the door shut again. Hard clanking foot steps were heard.

"Rouge, I have returned."

Shadow thought he recognized that voice. He looked over his shoulder to see none other than his former team mate, E-123 Omega standing in the doorway, completely covered in water from head to toe.

Rouge was delighted and jumped up from the couch to meet her robotic companion.

"Hey Omega!"

The robot rotated its head towards her.

"Greetings Rouge!"

Omega suddenly began beeping and his eyes flashed. It stopped after a second and addressed Rouge.

"Rouge?"

The bat looked at him. "Yes Omega?"

"Sensors indicate that previous companion Shadow The Hedgehog is in the vicinity."

"Oh yes. He sure is. Come on, he's in the living room."

Omega followed Rouge to the living room, its giant metallic feet leaving temporary dents in the carpet. The two stopped in front of Shadow who looked at the robot.

"Hello Omega, it's been a while."

"Affirmative, sensors indicate one year, three months, two weeks, and five days since last encounter. Last encounter was during Black Arms invasion."

Shadow was amazed by the robot.

"It's good to see you Omega, where have you been since then?"

"After Black Arms invasion, I have been managing Club Rouge in Night Babylon for Rouge."

The night hedgehog faced the snowy white bat.

"You still have that night club?"

"Of course, where do you think this mansion came from since you left? I have been saving for it for two years."

"Hmm."

"Shadow."

The dark hedgehog turned to the robot.

"I would prefer a spar with you."

Shadow smirked. "So you think you can keep up with me?"

"Affirmative!"

"Alright, I would enjoy it."

Rouge faced Omega. "Omega, you should know Shadow's power has increased greatly since you last saw him."

"That is not relevant."

"And," She added, "It's raining outside."

"That is not relevant."

"Gee, you're like a broken record."

Sonic and Knuckles jumped up at the mention of sparring.

"Hey, can we join you?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, I need a work-out." Knuckles added.

"Oh come on Sonic, it's pouring out!" Amy said with frustration.

"That is not relevant." Sonic said mimicking Omega.

"Fine, but if you all catch a cold, then don't come whining to me." Rouge stated with annoyance in her voice.

The three nodded.

Sonic and Knuckles got up but Knuckles felt a tug on his arm. He turned to face Amber.

"Don't over-do it."

"Don't worry, I won't." Knuckles replied smiling.

She smiled back and released him. The four headed out of the front door and into the rain.

The three girls all sighed and put on yellow rain coats, following the boys outside.

Omega, Shadow, Knuckles, and Sonic all made their way to the giant area behind the house. The three girls followed. Lighting and thunder shook the skies and the rain fell heavily.

"I'd better see a good fight!" Rouge yelled. Shadow faced her and smirked.

"Of course." Shadow then turned back to the group.

"You guys ready?"

"Affirmative!"

"Always!"

"Yeah, let's party!"

Shadow immediately dashed towards Knuckles who was caught off by the hedgehog's speed and was knocked to the grassy ground. The Echidna recovered and sent his own fist towards Shadow, who easily caught it.

Sonic charged for Shadow and Omega followed. Sonic curled up into a spin dash and headed for Shadow. The dark hedgehog released Knuckles, who was hit by a tackle from

Omega, and jumped out of the way of the attack.

Sonic un-curled and sent a fist towards Shadow. The black hedgehog also pulled his fist back and sent it towards Sonic. Both fists met and Sonic flew back, Shadow still standing in his spot.

"My, my, you've gotten real strong Shadow." Sonic said getting up and wiping blood from his lips.

"Humph, that's not even the half of it, Faker." Shadow responded while smirking.

Sonic smirked back. "Still going on about that faker thing huh?"

"Yes of course and you will feel my power Sonic!"

Shadow's black quills stood on end as they flashed to golden. The now super powered hedgehog hovered off of the ground and folded his arms.

Sonic's eyes widened. "Shadow, you can't waste your energy like that!"

"Believe me, I need to learn how to last longer in these forms. Chaos Gather!"

Upon speaking those words, the seven Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emeralds appeared.

Rouge's eyes widened. "N-No, he can't!"

Sure enough, all eight Emeralds spun around Shadow until they were no more than a ring of colors. There was a giant blue explosion. When it subsided, the Emeralds lay on the ground, above it hovered Ultra Shadow.

Crimson Island

Eclipse came out of his sleep by a sudden burst of Chaos energy. He smirked.

"Shadow."

"Rouge's Mansion

The icy blue hedgehog faced the sea blue one. "Ready?"

"S-Shadow, you can't be serious!"

Shadow laughed. "Of course I'm not. I just wanted to see you scared for your life!"

Sonic sneered. "Yeah well, it was a lucky shot."

"Detectors read Shadow's energy levels off the charts!" A robotic voice sounded.

"Yes Omega, this is the Ultra form."

"Affirmative, but sensors indicate much higher capability of power."

Shadow raised a brow. "What?"

Omega suddenly hovered over to Rouge and lifted her off the ground. The bat shrieked.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Shadow also looked confused. "Omega?"

The robot raised one claw to the bat's neck.

"Make one move and Rouge will cease to exist."


	3. The Power Within

Chapter 3

Shadow's icy eyebrows widened.

"Omega, you can't be serious."

"Of course I am, now, what will you do?"

"Nothing." Shadow sneered. "I know you won't harm her."

If Omega had a mouth, he surely would have smirked. "Very well."

Will still holding Rouge in a choke hold with one metallic arm, the other sprang forward towards the bat's arm. The giant silver claws made impact on it, creating five bloody holes.

Rouge screamed in pain and wiggled in his grip. She faced Shadow.

"Shadow, please help me."

Shadow's expression turned from shock to anger as he heard Rouge's plea. He looked at the robot.

"Let her go Omega!"

"Order denied!" Omega took his arm and slashed at Rouge's shoulder, tearing her clothes and creating a long bloody line.

Rouge screamed again. "Shadow, please!"

The Ultra hedgehog clenched his fists as a dull white energy started surrounding his body. He felt his power increase.

"Sensors indicate heightened power level." The robot droned.

Shadow raised his arm and pointed it towards Rouge and Omega. A light blue energy orb formed.

"Let…her…go! NOW!"

"Affirmative."

Immediately, Omega dropped Rouge and she scrambled behind Amber. Shadow still had his hand pointed at the robot. The dull white energy had faded away but the energy orb remained.

"Why did you do it Omega?"

Omega bowed his head.

"Apologies Shadow."

"That won't cut it." The orb grew bigger.

"Let me explain the reasons for my actions."

"NO!"

The orb got even bigger and Shadow was about to shoot when the injured form of Rouge jumped in the way.

"Shadow stop."

His icy eyes met her emerald ones which made her shiver.

"Why?"

"Just let him explain. I'm sure Omega has a good explanation and if he doesn't, you can blast him, okay?"

Shadow thought for a minute before the orb disappeared and he lowered his arm. Rouge turned around towards the robot.

"Go ahead Omega."

"Affirmative! My action's intentions were to test Shadow's power."

Rouge tilted her head.

"What?"

"My sensors indicated greater physical and mental strength capability than that displayed by the Ultra form in Shadow."

Shadow raised a brow. "So what you're saying is that I can go beyond the Ultra form?"

"Affirmative."

Shadow's curiosity got the best of him as his fur flashed from ice blue, to silver, to gold, to black. The hedgehog landed on the ground and walked towards Omega.

"Are you sure?"

"Affirmative."

"But why did you threaten me?" Rouge asked.

"My knowledge indicates that the new form can only be achieved through a great sense of urgency to protect or by anger."

"But why Rouge?" Knuckles asked. "Why not Sonic, Amber, Tails, or me?"

"Sensors indicate Shadow's brain wave patterns are mainly focused on Rouge."

Everyone's eyes widened.

"M-Me?" Rouge stammered.

"Affirmative."

"Shadow, is that true?" Rouge turned to the dark hedgehog's spot but he was no longer there. She smiled.

'I guess he does care.'

Tails walked up to Omega. "Omega, how do you know all of this?"

"My intellectual design is based upon every bit of information on Earth."

Tails whistled. His eyes suddenly widened.

"Wait a minute, that means that you have information to the rest of Dr. Gerald's files."

"Affirmative."

Tails jumped up and down. "Now we can find more out about Shadow, Eclipse, and Amber."

Rouge faced him. "Really?"

"Yeah, come on everyone, let's go inside and check it out!"

Everyone nodded as the group made their way out of the rain and back towards the mansion.

Sapphire Island

Shadow stood upon a giant five star hotel's roof, thinking in the form of words.

"Damn that robot! How dare he invade my own personal thoughts! I do not focus my thoughts on Rouge."

A picture of the beautiful bat flashed in his mind and he shook it out.

"Damn it! I guess I do focus my thoughts and worries around her. But why? I mean, it's not like I lo"-

Shadow cut himself off. "Why couldn't I say that last sentence? I guess I do have an emotional attachment to her. But it can never be . I am immortal and she is not. Besides, I do not want my heart shattered again. "

Shadow stared at the beach for a few seconds before disappearing with Chaos Control.

Unbeknownst to Shadow, a cloaked gun robot had recorded the whole one-sided conversation. Through the live satellite camera, the new G.U.N. Commander saw it all.

"Hahahah, I finally found a way to control Project Shadow."

He smirked. His plan would have to wait though. This was not a problem for him since he had an abundance of patience.

"Drone 346375238, return to base."

The cloaked drone received the message and flew off into the distance.


	4. Truth, Dare, And Love

Chapter 4

The wooden oak door to Rouge's mansion once again blew open as Rouge, Sonic, Amy, Cream, Knuckles, Omega, Tails, and Amber entered. Knuckles was carrying the Chaos and Master Emeralds, which were in a dull gray color due to Shadow's use.

"I'm going to put these back in the basement." Knuckles said before going downstairs.

"Please Rouge, let me give you medical attention!" Omega droned while facing his bleeding companion.

Rouge smiled. "Sure Omega."

Omega led Rouge into the bathroom upstairs and shut the door.

"But guys, what about the journal entries?" Tails screamed.

"Calm down kid, we'll see 'em." Amber replied wearily. 'I'm not too sure I want to see them though.'

Tails sighed and went into the kitchen. Cream followed. This only left Amber, Amy, and Sonic.

"Well guys, let's do something to pass the time." Sonic said excitingly.

"Like what?" Amy asked curiously.

Instead of responding, Sonic went into the kitchen. Amy and Amber looked at each other before he came back out with a bottle.

"What's that for?" asked Knuckles who just re-entered.

Sonic smirked. "Truth or Dare."

Amber tilted her head. "What?"

"Truth or dare Amber. If the spinning bottle lands on you, you have to pick truth, in which you must answer one question truthfully or dare, in which you must perform an act chosen for you." Amy explained.

"Okay." Amber replied. All four went into the living room and sat in a circle.

"May we join you?" Cream asked followed by Tails who had a tray with eight cups.

"Sure princess." Sonic replied. Everyone made room and Cream handed everyone a cup. "Hot chocolate." Cream explained.

At that point, Omega and Rouge came back downstairs. Rouge had white cloth wrapped around her arm and shoulder.

"Hey guys, whatcha doing?" Rouge asked.

"Truth or Dare." Sonic replied.

"Oh, count me in!" Rouge said excitedly as she took a spot in the circle. Omega went into a corner and went onto stand-by mode. Cream handed Rouge a cup.

"Wait." Knuckles interrupted. "What about the journal entries?"

"That can wait, let's have some fun first!" Sonic answered.

Rouge looked at the ceiling. 'I wonder where Shadow is?'

Rouge The Bat's Mansion: Backyard

Shadow stood close to one of the many windows in the house, looking upon the others. Rain made his fur cling to his body . Water ran off his muzzle and his quills drooped down.

"Truth or Dare?"

FLASHBACK

"Come on, we don't wanna wake him." Rouge whispered. The three girls made their way upstairs to Rouge's bedroom. Once inside, Cream and Amy got out their sleeping bags and a bottle.

"What's that for?" Rouge asked.

"Truth or dare." Cream replied.

The girls sat in a circle and Amy spun the bottle. It landed on Rouge.

"Truth or dare?" Amy asked.

"Dare." She replied.

"I dare you to go downstairs and kiss Shadow!"

"No way!"

"You have to."

"Fine."

The girls headed downstairs and Amy and Cream staid on the steps while Rouge made her way down to Shadow. She kneeled in front of him and got closer and closer. Their lips were about to touch when he spoke.

"May I help you?"

Rouge squealed and ran back upstairs with the girls, slamming the door shut.

Shadow smirked before drifting off to sleep.

END FLASHBACK

"Hmm, what a ridiculous game."

Shadow looked back towards the window to continue observing.

Rouge The Bat's Mansion

Sonic spun the bottle and it landed on Amy. "Alright Amy, truth or dare?"

Amy thought for a moment. "Hmmm, dare!"

Sonic smirked. "Alright, I dare you to leave me alone for the rest of the night!"

Amy's face saddened. "Awwwwwwwww!" Sonic leaned back on his hands and Amy spun the bottle. This time it landed on Amber.

"Alright Amber, truth or dare?"

"I'll take truth."

Amy made an evil smile. "Alright, who do you like?"

Amber tilted her head. "I like all of you."

Amy shook her head. "No, I mean who do you _like?"_

Amber's eyes widened a little. "Umm…no one."

"Don't lie Amber." Sonic said.

"Oh…umm…I…like…ummm…Knu…ckles." Amber blushed deeply as she said this and looked at the floor. Sonic and Amy rolled over laughing. Amber looked over at Knuckles and he was smiling at her. She smiled back.

Amber took a hold of the bottle and spun it. It landed on Rouge. "Rouge, truth or dare?"

Rouge smirked. 'They won't get me twice.'

"Truth." She replied. Amber smirked.

"Alright, who do _you_ like?"

Rouge was completely caught off guard. "I…umm…I…"

Amy cut in. "Just tell us about him, you don't have to tell us his name."

"Oh okay. Well, he's very mysterious, powerful, extremely handsome…"

"Black and red." Sonic added smirking.

Rouge blushed deeply. "Umm…yeah."

Rouge The Bat's Mansion" Backyard

Shadow's dark eyes widened. "Black and red? She couldn't be talking about me, could she?"

Rouge The Bat's Mansion

After a few more humiliating dares and truths including Knuckles dressing in Rouge's clothes, everyone decided to turn in.

"Okay guys, I have three guest rooms." Rouge said

Sonic raised a brow. "This is a mansion and you only have four bedrooms?"

"Yeah well, the rest have my jewels in them. Sonic rolled his eyes.

"So you all have to share."

Immediately, Amy grabbed Sonic's arm and dragged him into one room.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sonic's screams were silenced when the door slammed shut.

Amber looked at Knuckles hopefully and he smiled. They both walked into the second room. Tails and Cream went into the last and Rouge went into her bedroom.

Knuckles And Amber's Room.

"So Knuckles," Amber said shyly as they looked around the room. "There's only one bed."

Knuckles thought for a moment and smirked. "Guess we have to share."

Amber blushed as Knuckles examined her. She had changed her usual outfit and was wearing one of Rouge's silk robes.

"You're beautiful." He murmured. Amber blushed deeper.

"Thank you."

Knuckles smiled warmly as he pulled her into an embrace. "Knuckles, what are you-mmph."

Amber was cut off as she felt Knuckles' warm lips against her own. Her whole body turned to mush as she gladly returned it.

Rouge's Room

Rouge sighed as she lay down in her King-sized bed. "Why isn't Shadow back yet?"

The bat lay her head down and fell asleep with her mind still on the dark hedgehog.

Three Hours Later

Rouge awoke with a shiver. She looked around in her room and spotted a window was open. The bat got out of bed and closed it with light water settling on her arm due to the rain.

She was about to get back in bed when she spotted something in the dark corner of her room.  
Standing there was none other than Shadow. He had his arms crossed and eyes closed leaning against the wall.

Rouge smiled "Aww, he decided to stay."

Without making a sound, Rouge tip-toed over to Shadow and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Good night Shady."

The Ultimate Life Form stirred for a second before becoming still again. Rouge giggled a little and returned to bed.


	5. Growing Anger

Chapter 5

Shadow opened his eyes to the sound of thunder booming the sky. He looked around and found himself to be in Rouge's room.

'How did I end up in here?'

Shadow uncrossed his arms and used his elbows to push himself off the wall. The hedgehog looked outside. It was still dark.

"Humph, I suppose the sun won't rise for a while.'

The ebony hedgehog slowly made his way over to the window. He was about to open it when he noticed that his cheek felt a little wet. The night hedgehog brought his gloved hand up and wiped his cheek with its smooth material.

Shadow slowly brought his hand back down and looked in his hand. He examined it for a moment and looked back towards Rouge, still asleep in bed.

'What did she do?'

He slowly lowered his hand, opened the window, and jumped upon the window still. With the dark, rain filled sky behind him, Shadow took one last look at the bat before jumping into the rain.

30 Minutes Later

Lighting lit up Rouge's room as she shot up into a sitting position with her eyes wide. She looked towards the window and saw the raging storm while settling down a little.

The bat slowly pulled the covers off her body and put on her pink slippers. She slowly made her way towards the window and closed it.

The treasure hunter looked back towards the corner of her room to find Shadow missing. She smiled.

'He must've headed out already.'

Rouge yawned and went into her bathroom, closing the door. She slowly began removing her night clothes and turned the water in the bathtub on.

Emerald Coast

Shadow stood upon the sandy wet ground of the beach, watching the waves furiously pound against the shore. Lighting and thunder shook the dark sky, rain pounded against all who were foolish enough to oppose it, and strong winds blew against the trees and buildings.

Shadow watched the waves roll and the wind blow. The rain and wind made a lethal combination as it hit the dark hedgehog's body. This did not bother him however, since his mind was on other things.

'Did she kiss me?'

Shadow shook the thought out of his head.

'Of course not, why would she anyway?'

Shadow closed his eyes for a second.

'I must be heading back, I cannot afford to endanger them.'

Shadow opened his eyes and disappeared with chaos control.

Rouge The Bat's Mansion

Everyone had now woken up and was in the kitchen of Rouge's mansion. They had just finished eating breakfast and were waiting for Shadow's return. Amy was sitting next to Sonic, Tails and Cream sat next to each other, Rouge sat at the end of the table, Omega stood next to Rouge, and Amber was sitting on Knuckles' lap.

"Come on, we've waited long enough! Let's look at those files!" Tails exclaimed with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

As if on cue, there was a bright flash of light that was replaced by none other than Shadow The Hedgehog.

Knuckles sighed. "Finally, let's get this over with!"

Shadow shook his body and water sprayed from his black fur. It was not close enough to hit anyone and landed on the floor.

"Get what over with?" Shadow asked while squeezing water from his quills.

"Omega here has the rest of Dr. Gerald's files." Sonic said pointing to the robot.

"Really? Well then let's"- Shadow cut himself off when he laid eyes upon Amber sitting on Knuckles' lap. "What the hell are you doing?" He asked with a hint of anger in his voice.

Amber looked at Shadow then back to Knuckles and smiled.

"Haven't you heard Shadow?" We love each other."

Shadow gritted his teeth. "_Oh_ _really?"_

The night hedgehog began to advance when Rouge sprang up and stopped him.

"Shadow, come on, don't do this."

Shadow stopped advancing and shot her a glare. "Do what? Rip that Echidna's throat out?"

Amber sprang up. "Shadow, don't you dare touch him!"

Shadow moved around Rouge and stood in front of his sister.

"Why not?"

"Because I love him Shadow, and he loves me."

"How do you know?" Shadow said, a dark aura now surrounding him.

"Because he told me!"

"And you believe him?" Shadow yelled, the dark aura growing.

Knuckles jumped in front of Amber. "Listen Shadow, I'm sorry. I should have asked you first."

"You're DAMN right you should've!"

Rouge jumped in front of Shadow and faced him. "Shadow, you need to calm down right now!"

Shadow faced her. "Why should I?"

"Because we have more important things to worry about! We need to read those files and find a way to beat Eclipse!"

"Fine, but first let me break that Echidna's neck!"

Rouge got closer to him and stared coldly at him.

"_Listen_, these two love each other and you will not ruin their happiness. Do you understand?"

"But I"-

"Do you understand?"

Shadow looked away from Rouge. "Perfectly."

Shadow's body loosened up and the dark aura disappeared. Everyone sat down at the table and Omega walked up.

"Downloading files. Please wait…"

There was a buzzing sound as a small projector popped out of Omega's chest plate and pointed to the table.

"Running largest-sized files."

The projector turned on and a small blue light appeared in the table. In the light was the world renowned scientist. Professor Gerald Robotnik.


	6. Uncovering The Truth

Chapter 6

Everyone stared in amazement as the long dead scientist appeared.

"How in the world?" Sonic asked to himself.

"All files are part of a visual log." Omega explained.

"Oh."

_Log Entry 027_

_After an expedition to the mystical Angel Island back on Earth, my colleagues and I have discovered two small fossils near a giant green diamond on an old stone altar. These may prove to be the keys to creating the Ultimate Life Form._

"Angel Island?" Knuckles asked in shock. "But what did he discover?"

Tails looked at the robot. "Omega."

"Affirmative! Running file labeled Fossil Information."

The blue picture seemed to pick up static for a moment but soon corrected itself.

_Log Entry 067_

_After multiple tests we have discovered that one of the fossils is that of an extinct female Echidna. With the little DNA available, we were able to make a rough visual image of the creature._

The screen switched to what looked like an orange female Echidna.

"TIKAL?" Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles screamed.

Rouge faced them. "Who?"

"Tikal." Tails repeated. "She is an ancient Echidna princess that appeared during the Chaos incident.

"Are you talking about that ancient Echidna god?" Shadow asked. Sonic nodded.

"But what does Tikal have to do with this?" Cream asked curiously.

"I don't know." Knuckles murmured. After a moment of silence, the Echidna's eyes widened. He looked straight at Amber.

"Hey baby." Knuckles asked. Shadow's red eyes seemed to burst into giant infernos when he heard how Knuckles just addressed Amber.

"Why you little"- Before Shadow could finish, Rouge and Sonic grabbed him each by one shoulder and pulled him back into his seat.

Amber ignored her brother and looked at Knuckles. "Yes?"

"Do you remember when we fought on Angel Island and you mentioned something about Tikal's memories?"

Amber looked down on the floor. "Yeah."

"What did you mean?"

Amber looked back up at him. "I'm not really sure. I just have all these memories of myself watching a giant beast wipe out an entire civilization."

Knuckles looked back at Omega. "Omega, can you please play a file about the DNA used to create Ultimate Life Form project 002."

"Affirmative!"

Once again, the screen switched back to Gerald.

_Log Entry 3765_

_After the failed Ultimate Life Form project 001, I have decided to use the other DNA sample extracted from Angel Island. I believe that due to this Echidna's DNA patterns, she must have been highly intelligent. This may prove to be more efficient than brute strength._

Amber's eyes widened. "So…I was created from…Tikal?"

Shadow looked at her. "I guess so. That might explain why you can harness Chaos energy so well. If I'm not mistaken, Echidnas could absorb Chaos energy. Right Knuckles?"

"Yes, that's true."

Shadow continued. "So we know that I got my Chaos powers from Black Doom and Amber got her powers from Tikal. But from where did Eclipse get so much power?"

"Well, let's see!" Tails exclaimed. "Omega, please run files labeled Ultimate Life Form project 001."

"Affirmative! Loading Files now."

The blue screen once again shifted.

_Log Entry 324_

_After many tests we have discovered that the other fossil actually belongs to that of a creature with immense Chaos power. There is something strange about this DNA sample though. I could not find any species recorded to this day that matches the fossil. This may even lead to the discovery of a new species!_

_Log Entry 546_

_Our hard efforts to discovering the other mysterious fossil's origin has finally paid off. Upon further examination of Angel Island and its background, we stumbled upon a legend about an ancient Echidna god, the god of destruction. Chaos. We believe that this other fossil is all that remains of this powerful creature._

The message had stopped as the entire room was shrouded in silence. Everyone was just too stunned to say a thing. Shadow was the one who finally broke the silence.

"Are you telling me that Eclipse is the son of a god?"

Sonic looked at his counter-part. "I guess you could say that."

"I can't believe it, how was I even able to keep up with him?" Shadow mumbled.

Rouge looked at the dark hedgehog. "Aw, don't say that Shadow. You did great against him and I'm sure you will beat him when the time comes."

Shadow looked up at her and smirked. Tails looked at Omega who was just standing at the table waiting for instructions.

"That will be all Omega."

"Affirmative!" The robot droned as it made its way back to the corner of the room and went into stand-by mode.

Amber hopped off Knuckles and went into the kitchen along with Cream, Amy and Rouge. Rouge went over to the stove and turned around to the boys in the living room.

"What would you like to eat?" She yelled.

"Chili Dogs!"

"Fruit!"

"Pizza!"

Rouge smiled. She knew those voices belonged to Sonic, Knuckles and Tails. She re-entered into the living room to find the boys on the couch.

"How about you Shadow?" She asked. She looked around but did not spot the night hedgehog. "Shadow? Shadow?" Rouge placed her hands on her hips, huffed to herself, and returned to the kitchen.

Crimson Island

"CHAOS INFERNO!"

The entire volcanic island was engulfed in a bright silver explosion as waves were sent hurtling away. Through the entire event, the silhouette of a monstrous winged hedgehog came into view.

"FOUR MORE DAYS SHADOW!"

Emerald Coast

"Baby? BABY? How dare that insolent fool call my sister by such a immature name? If Rouge would not have stopped me, that Echidna's blood would be on my hands right now!"

Shadow paced back and forth on the rainy, stormy beach. His voice seemed to rival that of the thunder itself.

"He isn't worthy to have her. He's not strong enough to protect her." Shadow stopped himself. "Hmm, maybe I shall give this Echidna a fair chance."

Shadow's mind began to brew up a devilish plan as he chaos controlled into the night.


	7. Earning The Right

Chapter 7

Knuckles awoke that third morning to be greeted by a cold rush of air. Shivering, the guardian went over to his window and pulled it shut. The Echidna looked back towards his bed to see Amber laying there with the covers up to her chine. Knuckles smiled at her.

The red warrior made his way over to Amber and was about to wake her up when he heard a dark voice.

"Well, well, well, having fun with my sister?"

Knuckles whirled around to see two eerie red eyes in the darkness.

"Is that you Shadow?"

The creature stepped forth to indeed be the dark hedgehog. He looked at the guardian with a hint of anger. Knuckles was a little taken back by Shadow's look and cleared his dry throat to speak.

"What do you want Shadow?"

The dark hedgehog smirked at him. "I have a proposition for you Echidna."

Knuckles arched a brow. "Oh really, what kind of proposition?"

Shadow closed his eyes. "I would like to see if you are worthy to be with my sister."

Knuckles looked confused. "What do you mean by worthy?"

Shadow opened his eyes. "I want to see if you can protect her."

Knuckles' confused face turned to an angry one. "Of course I can protect her!" He spat at the hedgehog.

Shadow smirk grew slightly. "Then you wouldn't mind proving it?"

Knuckles looked back at the sleeping Amber and then back towards Shadow. "How?"

Shadow turned around. "By fighting. You and I will fight each other."

Knuckles' mouth dropped. "But how? You can turn into your Super form at will!"

Shadow faced the Echidna again. "Yes, but I will not transform for this battle. You don't even have to beat me, just land one punch right here." Shadow said pointing to his cheek.

Knuckles smirked. "Aren't you being a little cocky?"

Shadow's smirk turned into a frown as he walked closer to Knuckles. "Believe me Echidna, if I even used a quarter of my full strength the Echidna race would really be extinct."

Knuckles thought for a second. He knew this was true. Shadow could easily defeat him especially since he could turn into his Super form at will. But since he was suggesting otherwise he decided to give in.

"Alright Shadow, you've got yourself a match! When and where?"

Shadow smirked. "In the backyard in one hour. Bring only yourself."

Knuckles nodded as Shadow disappeared. Knuckles went back over to Amber and looked at the sleeping beauty he would be fighting for.

Rouge's Bedroom

Shadow re-appeared in none other than Rouge's bedroom.

'Why do I keep on coming here? It's not like there's anything important here.'

Shadow's gaze traveled to the bat asleep in her bed. He couldn't help but take in the full beauty of her, even in her sleep without any kind of make-up.

Shadow shook his head. 'Why am I thinking about this?'

The dark hedgehog made his way back towards his 'personal' dark corner of the room and leaned against the wall.

One Hour Later

Knuckles and everyone else was down in the kitchen eating breakfast. Everyone was socializing except for Knuckles whose thoughts were on his fight with Shadow.

'I think if I attack him with my strongest punch, knowing him, he will try to block it and be caught off guard by the force of the hit.'

Knuckles was still deep in thought and Amber noticed this. "Are you okay Knuckles?"

Knuckles snapped out of his trance and looked at her. "Oh yeah, I just have to go to the bathroom."

Amber smiled and turned back to the others while Knuckles got up and headed outside.

Backyard

By now, the rain had almost completely submerged the grass on the once lush green ground. All that was left was dirty brown water on top as rain continued to pelt against the ground. Silently, without anyone noticing, Knuckles exited the house through the back door. He made his way to where some would call the middle of the yard and waited.

'I wonder if he's even going to show'- His thought were cut short by a deep voice. "I see you came."

Knuckles turned around and faced Shadow who was standing on top of the roof looking down upon him.

Knuckles smirked. "Of course, I never back down from a challenge!"

Shadow smirked at his comment and replied. "Maybe you should've backed out of this one." Shadow used the roof as a boost and shot off towards Knuckles.

The Echidna side-stepped and attempted to finish the fight quick by elbowing Shadow in the back. Before he made contact however, the dark hedgehog disappeared. Knuckles growled as he retreated his arm only to feel a fist bury itself in his back.

Knuckles' mouth opened as his entire body arched from the blow. Not giving him a spare second, Shadow delivered a roundhouse kick to the red warrior's back, sending him flying into the mud.

The Echidna got up slowly and faced Shadow who was smirking. "You might want to lay a fire under those feet if you want to hit me."

Knuckles did not respond but charged at the hedgehog. Shadow also charged and both met with each other, locking fingers. Both were pushing with all their might when Knuckles felt himself scoot back a little. Shadow lowered his head as he continued to push the Echidna until finally he retreated his still locked hands and pushed Knuckles back onto the ground.

Knuckles raised his head only to meet with another blow from Shadow. Knuckles fell on his back as Shadow picked him up by the neck. "Hmph, looks like it's over."

"Not by a long shot!" Knuckles retorted as he sent one of his fists at Shadow who once again disappeared. The Echidna fell to the ground gasping for air when Shadow came from above and kneed Knuckles in the back.

Knuckles fell to the ground once more as Shadow got off him. The hedgehog smirked at his fallen opponent. "Listen , it's over. You can't land a single blow."

Knuckles' body slowly twitched as he pushed himself off of the ground. "It's not over yet."

Rouge The Bat's Mansion

Amber started wondering what was taking Knuckles. 'He's been gone a while, maybe I should check on him.'

Amber got off the couch and went into the downstairs bathroom to find it vacant. 'Maybe he's upstairs.' But when she checked however, he was not there. 'Where could he be?' Amber's eyes drifted to the window. 'It's really coming down good.'

'Wait a minute, what's that?' She thought as she saw a red and black figure moving in the rain. Her eyes widened as she ran downstairs. Everyone was still in the living room when she came down.

"Guys, Shadow and Knuckles are fighting." She yelled. Everyone's eyes widened as they all jumped off the couches and ran outside.

Backyard

Knuckles just barely managed to dodge another blow from Shadow when he heard splashing. The red one turned his head to find everyone running towards them. Shadow also looked but not as long as Knuckles as he found out when a fist collided with his stomach. Knuckles reeled over in pain as the group reached the two.

"What are you doing?" Amber screamed at them. Shadow looked at her and back at the fallen Knuckles. "Sparring."

Rouge stepped forth towards Shadow with a scowl on her face. "More like slaughtering! You know he can't fight you!"

Shadow looked away. "He agreed to it."

"That doesn't mean you have to do it." Rouge yelled. Amber, who was helping Knuckles up and everyone else's eyes traveled to the person who spoke.

"If I would have backed down , I would've been a coward." Shadow retorted.

Rouge folded her arms. "Yeah well, maybe you are a coward!"

Shadow faced her again. "What did you call me?"

Rouge smiled evilly. "You heard me! A COWARD!"

Shadow's eyes seemed to twitch as he shot her a glare. "Take that back."

Rouge turned her back a little. "No!"

"I said, take that back!" Shadow said stepping closer.

Rouge became alarmed at his advance and stepped back. "Shadow, what are you doing?"

Shadow smirked and appeared before her in a flash. Rouge shrieked and almost fell over had Shadow not caught her by the arm. Rouge looked up at him. His grip was not tight but still made her feel uneasy.

"Shadow, let me go." She yelled.

"Not until you take that back!" Shadow said, his fur flashing to dull yellow as a golden aura surrounded him.

Rouge was most definitely alarmed now that he changed into his Super form as he lifted her off the ground and high into the air. He then took his fingers and created a golden circle that bonded Rouge's wings behind her back.

Rouge's eyes widened as did everyone else's. Amber was about to transform when Knuckles held her back. "He'll hurt her!" Knuckles hook his head and smirked. "Just wait."

Shadow stared at the bat in his arms. "Last chance, take it back!"

Rouge looked up at him. "N-No!" She stammered.

"Wrong answer." Shadow stated as he released the bat.

Rouge plummeted through the air at high speeds and was a bout to hit the ground when a golden flash caught her. She looked up to see Shadow who had a huge smirk on his face.

"Now will you take it back?" Rouge simply nodded as Shadow snapped his fingers and the golden rings disappeared.

Rouge jumped from Shadow's arms, faced the dark hedgehog, and slapped him in the face. "Don't you EVER do that again!"

Shadow, who was unfazed, smirked. "Of course not, as long as you won't insult me."

Rouge just huffed and went back into the house. Shadow's Super form faded away as he made his way to Knuckles. With lighting fast speed, Shadow grabbed the Echidna's fist and shoved it in his own face.

Knuckles only looked confused as Shadow lowered the Echidna's fist, two dark red holes now in his right cheek. The dark hedgehog smirked while walking back inside. "You have earned the right."


	8. Fighting And Forgiving

Chapter 8

Knuckles was now deeply confused about what Shadow had done. 'Why would he want to fight me and then simply hit himself, making me win?' Amber looked over at Knuckles curiously and spoke, breaking his train of thought. "Earned what right?"

Knuckles snapped out of his spaced-out state and faced her. "Oh it's nothing."

Amber simply raised a brow but only sighed. "I guess that's the best answer I'll be getting out of you."

Knuckles smirked. "You know me."

Amber smiled and released the Echidna. "Yes, I know you all too well." She mumbled as she made her way back into the house. Knuckles stood there for another moment before realizing it was still raining and he was totally muddy. The Echidna turned around and quickly sped back into the house.

Rouge The Bat's Mansion

Everyone else was already seated back in the living room with yellow towels around their shoulders when Amber and Knuckles entered the room.

"Here ya go guys!" Rouge said as she threw them both a towel. Both hedgehog and echidna caught it and began stroking their wet fur.

Knuckles scanned himself over and realized he was still filthy. "I'm gonna take a shower guys." And with that said, the guardian walked upstairs into the bathroom.

There was an eerie silence in the room and after a while, Sonic decided to break it. He looked across the room to see his dark counterpart leaning against a wall.

"Hey Shadow!" The dark hedgehog turned his head slightly and looked at the sea blue hedgehog. "Why were you and Knuckles fighting anyway?"

Shadow scuffed and turned his head back to its original position. "That does not concern you."

"Well, I think it concerns me since you were fighting in my yard!" Rouge addressed the hedgehog with a hint of anger in her voice.

The night hedgehog faced the albino bat. "Oh really?"

Rouge narrowed her eyes. "_Really!_"

Shadow smirked. He knew he was stretching the bat's nerves but decided to test his luck a little more. "It still doesn't concern you."

Shadow smirked when he saw Rouge's reaction. The white bat practically changed color to red as her face crunched up in anger. But instead of her screaming at him, Rouge's face began to contort as her eyes softened. "You DAMN stubborn hedgehog!" She yelled before jumping up and running out of the room.

Shadow closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall as everyone in the room faced him. "Wow Shadow, you really screwed up this time." Sonic mumbled.

Shadow however, caught that comment. "What did you say?" Sonic jumped a little before mumbling a faint "nothing."

Amy however, who had been silent this whole time also jumped up and walked over to the dark hedgehog. Shadow faced her with annoyance. "And what do you"-SLAP!

Shadow was cut off by a hard slap from the rose hedgehog. Everyone's eyes widened as Shadow rocked back a little. He regained his composure and faced Amy.

"What the hell was that for?" He yelled at the hedgehog.

Amy pointed a finger directly in his face. "For doing that to Rouge!"

Shadow scoffed. "I didn't do anything."

Amy's eyes narrowed. "Yes you did! You are totally mean, unfair, and inconsiderate to her and everyone else."

Now it was Shadow's turn to be angry. "Don't tell about fair. Not after what happened to Maria!"

Amy sighed slightly but her hard face remained. "Shadow, that was fifty years ago!"

Shadow was still unconvinced. "Neither she nor anyone else knows about the pain I went through!"

Amy's lips lifted to reveal her bared teeth. "You think she doesn't know about pain? Well how about this; when you died fighting Eclipse, Rouge wept for you everyday for a whole entire year!"

Shadow's eyes widened a little. "You're lying!"

"No she's not Shadow!" Sonic cut in. "Rouge really did cry for you every night."

"But why?" Shadow asked confused while staring at the floor.

"BECAUSE SHE LOVES YOU!" Amy screamed at the top of her lungs.

Shadow snapped his head to face her. "What?" He whispered.

"Don't you see Shadow?" Amy continued. "Rouge loves you. It's totally obvious and she even told me after we fought Metal Overlord."

"And she told me when you died fighting Eclipse." Sonic added.

Shadow's world was starting to spin out of control. 'She loves me? But how? Why?'

The dark hedgehog faced Amy and Sonic, who were now in front of him. "Now," Amy said, returning to her sweet innocent voice, "I believe you have someone to apologize to."

Shadow did not say anything but only nodded as he made his way out of the living room and upstairs. The dark hedgehog carefully walked down the long hallway to Rouge's room on the far right. He stopped to see the door cracked and hearing small muffled sounds.

'Is she crying?' Shadow gently pushed the door open a little more to find Rouge laying on her bed with her face buried within the large white pillows. Shadow opened the door completely and stepped in. "Rouge?"

The bat quickly snapped to attention and faced Shadow. Her eyes were a puffy red form and small streaks were seen on her face. She quickly hid her face and brushed the back of her arm across her face in an attempt to clear her broken state up.

"What do you want?" She asked rather harshly

Shadow stepped closer to her and sat down on her bed beside her. The bat still had an angry look on her face but Shadow chose to ignore it. "Look Rouge, I have never said this to anyone before but I suppose there is a time for everything. I'm sorry."

Rouge scoffed. "Oh, so the ultimate life form has some compassion after all?"

Shadow looked away form her sadly. "I really am sorry about what I said and did Rouge."

"Well you should be!" Rouge replied while huffing.

Shadow began to think that she would never accept his apology so he started to get up when he felt a tug on his arm. He looked back to see Rouge with a smile on her face. She quickly jumped up and embraced him in a tight hug.

"I forgive you Shady." She whispered.


	9. Three Days Left

Chapter 9

Three days. That was all the time Shadow had let before he would have to face Eclipse again. The dark hedgehog was currently back at Emerald Beach. After the fighting and apologizing, everyone thought it best to go to bed.

Shadow took his spot in Rouge's room and awoke that morning before anyone else. Since he had some time alone, he decided to make the best of it, so he returned to the beach.

Shadow could not really figure out why but the waves crashing against the beach, slowly wearing the sand away and the stormy sky somehow calmed him. The dark hedgehog looked around. He was the only soul on this beach. Not that this surprised him since a monstrous storm was overhead.

'Look at those waves slowly destroying the sand.' The hedgehog thought. 'That is what time will do to the others, but not me.'

His eyes caught a single bolder sticking out of the water, unaffected by the waves. 'Is that my fate? To be unaffected by time and be alone for all eternity? I do not want it all. I want a normal life. A normal life with…'

Shadow's thought were cut short by a single bolt of lighting destroying the solitary rock. Small pebbles flew in the air before coming back down to the ocean, making small prickles in the already churning waters.

Shadow observed the whole thing and once again pondered on his life. 'Maybe there is a chance for me. That rock was cut down to size by a great power. Maybe I can too. Maybe I can cut down my immortality to a smaller portion of itself. But how?' Shadow's spirits began to lift a little at the slight possibility of a normal life.

'I will find a way, even if I have to challenge the gods themselves. I will find a way.' Shadow completely forgot about his fight with Eclipse and chaos controlled away.

Rouge The Bat's Mansion

Rouge lazily made her way over to the living room, where everyone else was seated. They had already eaten breakfast composed of eggs, bacon, and toast and were now just finding something else to do to pass the time.

The white bat sat down on one of the white couches, letting the silky pink robe she was wearing loosely drop down beside her.

Amy was sitting beside Sonic, also wearing a pink robe, but unlike Rouge's, it wasn't quite as revealing. Amber was seated beside Knuckles, with her head against his powerful shoulders in a light peaceful sleep. Cream and Tails were sitting Indian style on the next couch playing paddy cake.

After a long silence, Sonic decided to break the ice. "Soooo, where do you think Shadow i"-

Sonic was cut off by a flash of light in the center of the room. This caused everyone to sit up slightly, Tails and Cream stopped playing, and Amber awoke from her sleep. After the light subsided, Shadow took its place.

"Looking for me Sonic?" Shadow asked while squeezing some water from his quills.

Sonic opened his mouth to respond but was beat by Rouge's voice. "Well Shadow, you never miss a cue. But I would have to ask you not to set my living room under water."

Shadow stopped squeezing his quills and looked at the bat. "Oh yeah." He mumbled slightly. Rouge only sighed and threw him a towel that she conveniently brought with her since she was planning on taking a shower.

Shadow caught the dull yellow towel and began drying off his wet fur. "So what are you doing?" Shadow asked while stroking one of his back quills with the towel.

Sonic sighed and slumped back a little. "Not much, we were just trying to find a way to pass the time."

Shadow thought about it for a second while still stroking his wet quills. All of a sudden, a thought hit Shadow as he stopped drying himself off.

The dark hedgehog looked over at Sonic before speaking. "How about a race?"

Sonic's head snapped up at the sound of the word 'race.' "What did you say Shadow?"

Shadow smirked. "A race Sonic. You and I will race." Shadow paused slightly to let his next comment sink in. "Unless you're scared."

Sonic immediately jumped up at his counterpart's remark. "Oh yeah, I'll show you!"

Shadow's smirk grew. "Then let's go."

"Uh, Shadow." Rouge interrupted. "If you haven't noticed, it's poring down outside and Sonic is afraid of water." Rouge smirked while looking at Sonic. "Aren't you Sonic."

The sea hedgehog did not respond but only looked down on the ground while mumbling some things. Shadow arched a brow. "Oh really?"

Sonic looked back up at the hedgehog. "Okay so I don't like water, so what?"

Shadow looked up at the ceiling slightly before responding. "Oh I understand. I just thought you were a hedgehog, not a cat."

Sonic was kind of shocked that Shadow had a sense of humor, small as it may be. He did not have to think about this though as everyone in the room burst out laughing.

Sonic looked back towards Shadow before responding. "All right, you've got yourself a race!"

Shadow looked back towards the blue hedgehog while smirking. "Excellent."

Rouge only rolled her eyes at the two hedgehogs. "Do whatever you want, but I'm going to take a shower." And with those words, the white bat got up and disappeared upstairs.

Sonic shrugged. "Alright, but you'll miss all the action." Sonic faced the remaining animals in the room. "Who wants to come watch?"

Tails and Cream didn't respond, but went back to their game of paddy cake. Sonic looked over at them. "Okay…I guess they don't want to either. Anyone else?"

Knuckles slowly stood up. "Sure, why not? I don't have anything better to do anyway."

Sonic smiled at the Echidna. "Sweet, that's one. How about you Amber?" Sonic asked while facing the yellow hedgehog.

Amber smirked. "Sure, I'd love to watch…" Amber hesitated slightly before finishing. "…Shadow smoke you."

Sonic looked at her in disbelief. "WHAT?"

Amber smirked again. "Oh Sonic, of course you must realize that Shadow is way faster than you."

Sonic crossed his arms and huffed. "He is not!"

Amy got up and put an arm around the blue hedgehog. "Don't worry Sonic, I'll support you."

Sonic looked at her and smiled. "Thanks Ames."

Amy smiled a little as a hint of rose tainted her face. 'Aw, he gave me a nickname.'

Shadow tapped his foot impatiently. "Can we start this now?"

Amber looked at her brother. "Hold on, let me just get mine and Amy's coat!"

Shadow crossed his arms. "Well hurry up!"

Amber shoved him a little. "Watch it mister, You're still my _little _brother."

Everyone in the room laughed as Amber made this comment and Sonic was about to say something when Shadow cut him off by giving him a glare. "Say one word _Faker _and I'll be serving you your heart on a silver platter!"

Sonic abruptly shut his mouth at Shadow's threat. Amber exited the room and returned with two yellow raincoats, one which she gave to Amy. "Alright, let's go!"


	10. The Race

Chapter 10

The group consisting of a red echidna, a yellow hedgehog, a blue hedgehog, a pink hedgehog, and a black hedgehog all made their way out to the front of the house through the rain and past the enormous gates that separated Rouge's mansion from the streets. Sonic stopped on the sidewalk and looked in both directions to find the street barren. 'Perfect, no distractions.'

The sea-blue hedgehog looked back to his black counterpart standing behind him. "So, where to Shadow?" Sonic yelled through the ferocious wind and rain.

Shadow tilted his head up, seemingly unaffected by the rain pelting against his unprotected face. The dark hedgehog looked back towards Sonic. "Emerald Beach, about ten miles from here."

Sonic put his hands behind his back. "That's kinda short, don't you think Shadow?"

The dark muscular hedgehog crossed his arms. "I don't feel like spending my entire day in the rain so take it or leave it."

Sonic put his hands up in defeat. "Fine, but when this storm is over, you and I will have a proper race."

Shadow smirked. "Count on it." The dark hedgehog faced Amber. "Can you tell us when to start?"

The yellow female nodded. "Sure."

Shadow looked back at Sonic. "Alright, first one to Emerald Beach and back that touches Amber's hand wins, got it?"

Sonic nodded slightly and arched forward, ready to take off. Shadow did the same and they now waited for Amber to start the race. The yellow hedgehog raised her hand in the air before yelling. "ON YOUR MARKS, GET SET, GO!"

In the blink of an eye, both hedgehogs took off with incredible speed, leaving the rest of the group slightly dazzled by the wind left behind.

Shadow skillfully skated down the empty road towards the main highway leading to Emerald Beach with Sonic right beside him. The blue hedgehog looked over at Shadow and smirked. Shadow looked back towards the road and huffed slightly. The dark hedgehog gave an extra boost of speed which Sonic easily matched.

Shadow then saw the up-hill turn onto the highway and made a sharp turn up the small ramp. Sonic skidded a little before also turning and following Shadow's lead. Shadow came out of the curve and saw nothing but straight pavement as far as he could see. He also noticed his adversary no longer beside him.

Shadow looked back to see Sonic running a few feet behind himself. "What's the matter Sonic, getting a little slow?"

Sonic did not respond but only pumped his legs harder, causing him to get back to Shadow's side. Sonic looked up at Shadow and smirked. "Never."

Shadow gave a slight nod and began increasing his skating leg motion to a faster pace, causing the jets on his shoes to give off a greater flare and greatly increasing his own speed. As Shadow sped ahead of Sonic, the blue hedgehog also decided it best to step things up as he let his arms fall loosely behind his body, creating more momentum for himself and catching up with the dark hedgehog.

Shadow looked over his shoulder at the approaching hedgehog. In a split second, Sonic was next to Shadow once again. Shadow growled slightly but his thoughts soon disappeared when he spotted a sign that read: Emerald Beach Next Exit

Shadow smirked as he made a sharp right turn, causing Sonic to slow down in order to avoid a collision. One at these speeds could prove fatal to both of them. Shadow quickly skated down the ramp and was followed by the now recovered Sonic.

Soon after leaving the highway, Shadow found himself dodging several parked or abandoned cars in the middle of the road. A light blue convertible was in the middle of the road, one which Shadow simply jumped over.

The dark hedgehog looked back to see Sonic swerving out of the way of the car. Shadow pressed on ahead and was soon greeted by the familiar sight of Emerald Beach. The dark hedgehog accelerated even more than before and soon found his air shoes violently stirring up a small sand storm. This triggered the hedgehog's mind to believe he had reached his checkpoint.

In one swift motion, Shadow dug one hand into the wet sand and spun his entire body around. His air shoes kicked up a ton of sand as a semi-circle dugout was formed. The hedgehog released his grip on the sand and once again sped off.

Sonic did the dame as Shadow, only his sneakers did not stir up as much sand as Shadow's air shoes. The blue hedgehog rotated around and sped off after Shadow. Sonic increased his speed again and found himself mere feet away from Shadow, who looked over his shoulder at Sonic.

"Still keeping up huh?" Shadow inquired over his shoulder. Sonic smirked. "You know me."

Shadow looked back forward to see an all too familiar blue convertible in the way. Shadow however, did not intend on slowing down for this annoying obstacle. Instead, the dark hedgehog pointed his hand forward as a yellow bolt erupted from his hand, engulfing the car in flames and sending it into the air. Both Shadow and Sonic sped underneath before the car came back to the ground with a loud crash.

Shadow and Sonic once again swerved up the small ramp onto the highway and ran side by side. Shadow thought this was the best time to reveal what he was truly capable of. Slowly and steadily, Shadow increased his speed every second, with Sonic following suite.

Pretty soon, Shadow's vision on his sides became blurry and his ears started throbbing. He knew what was going to happen next. There was loud boom as Shadow found his entire vision blurry and his sense of hearing completely disappearing. He had broken the sound barrier.

This was soon followed by another boom as Sonic also broke the sound barrier. The pavement under Shadow and Sonic gave way and crumbled as the two hedgehogs became nothing more than a black and blue blur.

With nothing stopping them, Shadow and Sonic flew over their exit and onto the street below, parting the pavement and knocking over cars as they went. Thought heir vision was blurry, they could see the faint outlines of three figures in the rain.

The blurs continued to move ahead until suddenly, there was another boom, followed by Shadow completely lifting off the ground with his shoes flaring behind him and shooting forward. Amber had her hand outstretched as the blur that was Shadow forcefully slapped it, knocking the poor hedgehog off her feet. A blue blur passed soon after.

The black blur gradually came to a halt by skidding for about a full minute with the side of his shoes, creating a long black line on the pavement. Sonic did the same, wearing out his sneakers a little.

Knuckles immediately helped Amber up as Shadow and Sonic made their way back towards them. Sonic was the first to speak. "So, who won?" Sonic asked eagerly.

Amber brushed off her clothes before answering. "Shadow."

All of Sonic's eagerness disappeared as this word passed through his ear. The blue hedgehog's gaze fell to the ground but his face was soon met by warm gloved hands. He looked up to see a pink hedgehog. "Don't worry Sonic, you'll beat him next time.

Sonic smiled slightly at Amy. "Thanks."

Shadow smirked as he watched Sonic. Before the hedgehog had a chance to leave, Shadow spoke. "So Sonic, I guess I went twice the speed of sound. Couldn't keep up, could you?"

Sonic looked back at Shadow. "Don't get too cocky Shadow. We'll have a rematch soon." With these words, Sonic went back inside accompanied by Amy. Everyone else, including Shadow, followed suite and went into he house.

When they came inside, they were met by a white bat that had a curious look on her face. "Who won?" She asked Sonic.

The blue hedgehog looked down at the floor. "Shadow." He mumbled.

Rouge smiled slightly, but only enough to make it barely noticeable. 'I knew it!'

The rest of the group soon entered afterwards. Before anyone could object, Rouge set everyone down for dinner, including Shadow. After the meal, everyone decided to turn in. Amber went with Knuckles, Cream went with Tails, Amy went with Sonic, and Rouge went into her room.

Rouge's Room

The albino bat slowly laid her weary head down onto her soft pillow. She sighed slightly before rolling to her side and turning off the lights. It must have been a few minutes before Rouge heard the door creak open.

The bat opened her eyes slightly and saw the silhouette of a hedgehog against the blinding light. The light soon shrank and disappeared as the hedgehog closed the door. Faint footsteps echoed through the room as the hedgehog made his way over to the bed.

Rouge closed her slightly opened eyes when she felt a warm breath against her face. It was accompanied by deep but soft voice. "Sleep well, my angel."

Rouge was inwardly shocked and delighted at the statement from whom she knew to be Shadow. The light footsteps were once again heard as Shadow probably made his way to a dark corner of the room. The bat could not suppress a slight giggle as a smile etched its way across her lips. She murmured slightly and almost silently. "Sleep well, my love."


	11. Growing Feelings

Chapter 11

Unknown Location

A colossal winged form flew silently through the stormy skies. The mighty sliver beast's eyes were unaffected by the heavy wind and rain pounding furiously against it. Large black clouds floated above with yellow lighting bolts dancing within them. Below, the merciless sea churned uneasily while huge waves were created, occasionally hitting the beast.

The monster smirked as he sensed a colossal power. 'I'M COMING SHADOW.'

Rouge The Bat's Mansion: Rouge's Room

Shadow was once again in his dark hidden corner of the room, unconsciously watching over the white bat that slept not ten feet from him. The dark hedgehog's body was covered in sweat, for his sleep was uneasy.

_Shadow watched in horror as some shadowed monstrosity held a clearly visible white bat Rouge in its tight grip._

"_THIS IS WHY YOU WILL NEVER BE A TRUE ULTIMATE LIFE FORM SHADOW" The unknown creature bellowed at the hovering Shadow. With these words, the beast took one of his claws and stuck it forcefully into the white bat's stomach._

_Blood erupted from the wound as well as the bat's mouth as Shadow watched on in horror. The beast let go off the bat with a smirk plastered on his face. A primal scream echoed through the stormy sky. Shadow then realized that it was his own. "ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUGE!"_

The dark hedgehog's eyes opened abruptly, finding himself to still be in Rouge's room. Shadow's first action was to check on the person that died in his horrifying dream. The dark hedgehog slowly made his way over to the side of Rouge's bed, only to find the bat still soundly asleep.

Shadow let out a small sigh before turning towards the door, and heading out. The dark hedgehog made his way towards the room Rouge had graciously given him. The old door slowly creaked open as the night hedgehog made his way in.

The room was still almost completely barren, save for a bed, dresser, and stormy filled window. Shadow made his way over to the window and lifted it open. In one swift motion, the dark hedgehog disappeared into the stormy morning.

Rouge's Room

The white bat slowly blinked her eyes open, not yet willing to let go of her peaceful sleep. She tried going back to sleep for a moment before finally giving up and getting out of bed. Rouge looked over at Shadow's "personal" corner to find him no longer there.

Rouge sighed a little. 'Why am I not surprised? "He's just not the kind of person to stay in one place long.'

The white bat made her way to her bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

Knuckles' And Amber's Room

The red Echidna also slowly woke up to find his beautiful young Amber lying cuddled next to him, with her arm over his chest. Knuckles savored the feeling of this for a moment before lightly shaking the hedgehog.

Amber's eyes fluttered open. She slowly looked up at Knuckles and smiled a t him. "Good morning."

Knuckles smiled back at her and kissed her on the forehead. "Good morning."

Sonic's And Amy's Room

An azure hedgehog also slowly woke up to only see carpet. Confused for a second, the blue hedgehog lifted himself up to realize he had been sleeping on the floor. Sonic looked over at the bed he slept beside to find a pink hedgehog, bundled up in the covers.

Sonic smiled slightly. 'Man she's beautiful. If only we could be together.' Sonic scowled himself abruptly and shook the thought out of his head. 'What am I saying? I would only be putting her in danger.'

Sonic used one knee as a support and stood to his full height. The blue hedgehog observed the pink one some more before softly calling. "Amy?"

The pink hedgehog did not respond. "Amy?"

Once again, Sonic's call was answered by silence. He raised his voice a little. "Amy?"

This time, the hedgehog began to stir so Sonic continued. "Amy!"

The pink one only pulled her covers over her head. Sonic rolled his eyes slightly at Amy's childish behavior. "Come on Amy." Sonic said with a hint of annoyance before reaching out to shake her slightly.

Before the blue hedgehog could react, Amy rolled over causing Sonic to roll with her. Both hedgehogs fell off the bed and landed on the floor with a heavy thud. Sonic was lying on top of Amy.

Amy finally opened her eyes to be met by grass green hues. She tilted her head curiously before realizing who this person was. "Oh, hello Sonic."

Sonic immediately jolted up from the pink hedgehog with a hint of rose covering his face. "Uh…I just…Uh…wanted to wake you." Sonic mumbled while rubbing his left arm a little. Amy smiled at his shyness.

"Thank you Sonic, could you help me up?" Amy asked mischievously. Sonic's eyes widened a little but he nodded and proceeded to help her up. Sonic grabbed her by the arm and pulled the pink one up. Amy "fell" forward and rested her hands on top of his chest.

The two hedgehog's eyes met and became lost in each other before Sonic decided to kill the moment. "We should get downstairs Amy."

Amy snapped out of her trance and nodded while removing her hands from his tan chest. The sea blue hedgehog turned and walked out of the room with the pink one following.

Living Room

Rouge was already in the kitchen whipping up a batch of pancakes when everyone else entered the room. "GOOD MORNING!" Rouge yelled. All she got in response were some ruffs and snorts. These people just weren't the morning type.

Everyone sat around the table as Omega proceeded to hand out the silverware and plates.

Emerald Beach

A lone figure stood on the sandy shore of the uneasy sea. This figure was of course Shadow The Hedgehog. His mind was once again lost within past, present, and possible future events.

'Why did I have that dream? Was it just a normal nightmare, or is it something more? And if it was just by coincidence, why was Rouge the one to die. Why not Sonic, Amy, or Amber? Maybe it is true, maybe I, the ultimate life form really am in lo'-

Shadow's thought were cut short as he felt a jolt of enormous chaos energy. The dark hedgehog's eyes widened, for he knew the source of the power.

"Damn…" Shadow softly cursed before disappearing with chaos control.

Rouge The Bat's Mansion: Living Room

Everyone had just finished breakfast and were currently in the living room, playing Twister. Sonic, Amy, Amber, Knuckles, and Rouge were all twisted up in various different ways.

Tails was at the wheel and spun it. "Alright Sonic, right foot green."

Sonic looked around the miniature field they were playing on and spotted a green space. Slowly and cautiously, the blue hedgehog moved his foot over to it and was about to place it on it when a bright light blinded everyone, causing Sonic and the rest of the players to fall over.

The light was replaced by a black hedgehog who had an arched brow. "Am I interrupting something?"

Sonic shook his head and untangled himself from the others. "No, we were just playing a game."

Shadow shook his head slightly and rolled his eyes. "Well put it away, I have something everyone must hear." Everyone else untangled themselves and Knuckles kicked the matt into a corner of the room. They all then proceeded to crowd around Shadow.

The dark hedgehog took a deep breath before speaking. "Eclipse is coming."

At those three words, everyone's eyes doubled in size. Cream jolted up and clanged to Amy's leg while sobbing slightly. "I'm scared Amy." Amy smiled and bent down to hug the frightened rabbit. "Don't worry, nothing will happen to you."

Sonic faced Shadow with a serious look. "Are you sure?"

The dark hedgehog nodded. "I felt his energy, there is no mistake about it."

Rouge faced the black hedgehog. "How long 'til he gets here?"

Shadow sighed softly. "I'd say one and a half days, just like he said."

Amber looked at her brother worriedly. "What are we going to do?"

Shadow faced the two youngsters, Amy, and Rouge. "You four will hide in the basement while Sonic, Knuckles, Amber, and I fight him."

Rouge looked at the hedgehog in disbelief. "But why me? I can fight just as good as Knuckles."

Shadow glared at her. "You do not have to know the reasons, just stay here."

Rouge crossed her arms. "I will, if you just tell me why."

Shadow rolled his eyes at the bat. "To protect Tails, Amy, and Cream." Shadow stated untruthfully

Rouge however could see through the hedgehog. "That's not the real reason. Tell me why."

Rouge's question was met with silence. "Shadow, tell me why." Once again, there was silence from the hedgehog. "Shadow…Shadow…SHADOW!" Rouge finally yelled.

"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT YOU TO GET HURT!" Shadow yelled at equal volume. Rouge and the others were completely without words. Rouge was the first to speak, but her words came out shaky. "Wh-What?"

Before anyone could react, Shadow disappeared. After a few moments of silence, Sonic spoke." I guess that's how he shows that he cares." Rouge looked at him hopefully. "Do…you really…think…so?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, you know how Shadow is."

"Rouge smiled at him. "I guess I do."

5 Hours Later

Everyone had already turned in for the night but Rouge was still up. She was currently on the roof of her mansion, looking at the stars. Her mind had been on the same thing for the past hour. _"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT YOU TO GET HURT!"_

That one phrase hurtled through her mind a thousand times. "Does he really care for me that way?"

Suddenly, Rouge caught something out of the corner of her eye. A brilliant silver streak across the sky. A shooting star. Rouge remembered that if you saw one and made a wish, it would come true. Silently, the bat made her wish before her eyes felt like lead and she drifted off to sleep on the roof.

One Hour Later

Shadow silently landed on the roof of the mansion and began walking towards the door leading inside when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. The hedgehog got curious and made his way over to the object. As he got closer, the object revealed itself as Rouge.

'What's she still doing out here.' Shadow thought before turning away. He stopped however, and looked back towards the bat. 'I should repay my debt.' Shadow proceeded to pick up the bat and held her bridal style.

Shadow slowly made his way back into the house and passed a few rooms before coming to Rouge's. The hedgehog opened the door and silently strived over to the bat's bed before gently laying her down and covering her with the blankets.

For a few moments, Shadow just stood there and looked upon the bat before shaking his head slightly and proceeding to his dark corner of the room. Shadow crossed his arms and leaned on the wall. With one final glance at the sleeping bat, the dark hedgehog let sleep take him.

Author's Note: There is one more day left before the fight with Eclipse. If anyone would like to suggest an activity or event that should take place before the fight, please let me know in your reviews.


	12. He's Here

Chapter 12

Emerald colored eyes fluttered open to the heavy sound of rain pounding against the window. Rouge the Bat slowly awoke to the unexpected warmth of her own bed.

'How did I end up in here?' The treasure hunter thought as she used her elbows for support and sat up. She looked around the room momentarily and her question was answered when she spotted a black and red hedgehog in the corner of her room.

'He must've carried me here from outside' Rouge thought as a hint of rose became visible on her tan face. 'Aww…'

The bat slowly removed the covers from her body and got out of her bed. She looked down at herself momentarily to find herself still in her usual attire. 'Well of course!' She scowled herself. 'Shadow isn't that type of guy.'

The bat went over to her closet and looked at her multiple choices. Usually, she would wear one of her battle outfits but today she decided on some blue pants, white boots, and a black tank top.

Rouge then proceeded over to her bathroom and shut the door behind her. She slowly removed her battle outfit and looked at herself in the mirror, noticing the bandages still wrapped around her waist, arm, and shoulder.

Rouge grimaced at the thought of what could be under the bandages so she decided to leave them alone. The bat quickly jumped into her large bathtub and closed the curtain.

Rouge's Room

Blood red eyes also slowly opened to the sound of rushing water near him. His ears twitched for a second before Shadow realized Rouge must be taking a shower. The hedgehog pushed himself off the wall and proceeded downstairs.

Living Room

Shadow made his way down the steps and into the kitchen to find everyone else already there. Sonic looked up from a piece of toast he was eating and looked at the dark hedgehog. "Good morning Shadow."

The dark one looked up at his blue counter part and surprisingly enough, responded. "Good morning."

At that moment Rouge came downstairs. "Hi guys." She greeted while yawning. She looked over to her side and spotted Shadow. "Oh, so you decided to stay today?" She asked innocently.

Shadow looked at her. "I have to, Eclipse could arrive at any moment. So I'll be training here if it's alright with you."

Rouge smiled at him. "Sure Shadow, you could train downstairs or outside."

Shadow thought for a moment. "I believe I'll take downstairs."

Knuckles looked up at him. "Mind of I join you?"

Shadow did not respond to the Echidna but looked at the snowy white bat in front of him who nodded approvingly.

Shadow turned back to Knuckles. "Sure."

Sonic jumped up at the sound of that. "Oh, oh, me too!"

Shadow rolled his eyes at Sonic. "Sure, why not."

"May I join as well?" A monotone voice questioned.

Shadow answered without looking at who he knew to be Omega. "Yes."

"Maybe we'll come as well…" Amber stated while looking at Amy, Cream, Tails, and Rouge "They can't leave us out ya know."

"Sure, I'll come." Amy stated while putting her plate up.

"I'll come too." Rouge stated.

"I'll think Cream and I will just play up here." Tails stated while walking off with Cream.

Sonic shrugged. "Their loss, let's go!" He exclaimed excitingly.

Everyone made their way downstairs to find what looked like a huge gym, complete with what looked like a super-sized boxing ring.

Sonic's eyes widened at eh sight. "Wow Rouge, do you really need all of this?"

"Of course, I gotta keep my skills sharp." She responded while heading to the ring. The rest of the group followed.

They all made their way inside the ring and Rouge stood in front of the rest. "What do you wanna do, a team fight or free-for-all?"

"Teams!" Amber, Amy, and Knuckles exclaimed.

Rouge looked over at Shadow and Omega. "You two okay with that?"

Shadow just shrugged in response. "Do what you please."

"Affirmative." Was Omega's reply.

"Alright, the teams will be simple: Sonic, Amber, Knuckles and Amy against Shadow, Omega, and myself." Rouge stated while making her way over to her team.

"Wait a minute!" Sonic shouted. "Why do you get Shadow?"

"Because," Rouge replied. "We've always worked as a team, right Shadow?" Rouge asked while looking at the hedgehog and winking, causing him to blush a little.

Rouge continued. "There will be NO super forms, got that?" She asked while looking at Shadow and Amber, both of whom nodded. "Alright, let's do this!"

Sonic immediately charged at Shadow and knocked the dark hedgehog away from his team. Amy and Amber charged for Rouge while Knuckles charged at Omega.

With Shadow and Sonic

Shadow recovered quickly and threw a punch at Sonic, who caught it and flipped the dark hedgehog over his back. Shadow countered however, by using Sonic's back as a boost and jumping off it.

Shadow quickly landed and planted a straight kick to Sonic's face. The blue hedgehog stumbled back as Shadow delivered another kick to his stomach. Sonic stumbled over momentarily and Shadow put both of his fists together and brought them down on Sonic's back, causing the hedgehog to fall to the ground.

With Knuckles and Omega

Knuckles threw one of his spiked fists at the robot. Omega made no move to block and was hit full force. The blow however, only caused the robot to scoot back a little. Omega raised his own fist and hooked the Echidna straight in the face.

Knuckles quickly recovered and sweep kicked Omega's legs, causing the robot to meet the floor. Knuckles did not waste time and punched the robot in the face full force. Omega flew down to the ground again as Knuckles took a knee, already exhausted from the heavy punches he delivered.

With Rouge, Amy and Amber

Amy immediately pulled out her trusty Piko Piko hammer and took a wild swung at Rouge. The bat skillfully dodged it by ducking and performed a simple sweep kick which caused the pink hedgehog to fall on the ground.

Amber also came at Rouge, but more skillful than Amy. The yellow hedgehog decided to go for a round house kick but once again Rouge ducked out of the way. Rouge went for another sweep lick but Amber mildly jumped in the air to avoid the attack.

With Shadow and Sonic

Sonic slowly recovered from Shadow's hits as the blue hedgehog pushed himself off the ground. Sonic looked to both sides to find Shadow nowhere in sight. All of a sudden, a bright light startled the hedgehog as he looked up to find Shadow above him with his hand pointed at him, a yellow chaos spear in hand.

And that is just the word Shadow shouted as he released his attack. "Chaos Spear!"

The yellow energy bolt shot forth from Shadow's hand and flew directly towards Sonic, who got up and ran to the side just in time to avoid the attack. The blue hedgehog looked back towards the missed attack to see it had made a hole in the floor.

Sonic looked forward again only to see Shadow glowing a ferocious red. Sonic's eyes widened as he tried to skid to a stop but it was far too late.

"Chaos Blast!" Shadow shouted as the red wave of energy engulfed both him and Sonic. When the flash cleared, Shadow stood tall over the burned and fallen blue hedgehog. "Looks like I win" Shadow stated smugly as he turned to leave but was stopped by a murmur that he clearly understood. "Not yet…"

With Knuckles and Omega

Knuckles was still panting heavily when the mechanical beast next to him began to stir. Omega pushed himself off the ground and stood facing his opponent. Knuckles growled and also stood to his full height.

In one lighting fast move, Omega retracted one of his hands into his arm as it was replaced by a large cannon. The cannon began charging as Knuckles formed his arms into an "X" shape to protect his body.

With Rouge, Amy, and Amber

Amber landed back on the ground safely and threw one of her fists directly at Rouge who was hit full force in the stomach. Amy had gotten up at that point and swung her hammer at Rouge who saw it just in time and ducked causing it to hit Amber instead.

Amber stumbled back from the blow as Rouge planted a round house across Amy's face. Both hedgehogs fell to the ground as Rouge advanced on them. When the bat was within grabbing distance both Amy and Amber pulled one of her legs and Rouge hit the ground hard. She looked up at Amy and Amber standing over in striking position with their fists and hammer so Rouge did the only thing she could. "SHADOW, OMEGA!"

With Shadow and Sonic

Shadow was about to strike the hedgehog again when he heard Rouge's voice call out to him. Without a seconds thought, the dark hedgehog dashed towards the voice while Sonic got back up.

With Knuckles and Omega

Omega was about to fire his cannon when he heard a call for aid from Rouge. The robot activated its back boosts and took off towards his companion.

With Rouge, Amy, and Amber

Both Amy and Amber brought their fists/hammer down upon Rouge when a black blur snatched the bat away from harm. Startled, both Amy and Amber looked up to see Shadow put down Rouge back on the floor.

Rouge looked at Shadow. "Thanks Shady."

Shadow blushed a little from the nickname being used openly in front of everyone and hoped the girls didn't hear Rouge, unfortunately they did.

"Shady?" Amber asked confused. She soon caught on however and smirked. "Aww, so my tough little brother has a nickname huh?"

Shadow's blush deepened even more. "Shut up Amber!" Shadow yelled.

At that point, Omega also arrived on the scene. "You required assistance Rouge?" The robot asked.

"Yeah," Rouge smirked while looking at the two she-hedgehogs in front of her. "Let's take them down!"

"Affirmative!" The robot exclaimed.

"Not without us!" A familiar voice shouted as both Sonic and Knuckles made their way over to the rest of the group.

Rouge smirked. "Alright, now we can wipe you all out at the same time. "TEAM BLAST!" She shouted.

After those words were bellowed, Omega's hands transformed into his cannons and Rouge jumped on top of her metallic companion and Shadow took a knee in front of Omega.

"Chaos Control!" Shadow shouted. Omega fired his cannons off after that as their opponents were caught frozen in time. Once time stood still and the blast cleared, Rouge jumped off Omega and delivered several kicks and punches to everyone in her way excluding her team mates.

Time sped up again as Sonic, Knuckles, Amber, and Amy all flew back from the multiple attacks. Rouge smiled smugly at them. "We win!"

Ten Minutes Later

Everyone had recovered from the training by now and was seated in the living room of Rouge's mansion. Omega came forth from the kitchen and handed cups of tea to everyone.

Rouge was about to grab her cup when she felt a searing pain through her. Her mouth opened as her eyes widened.

Shadow immediately jumped up from his sitting position. "Rouge, what's wrong?"

Rouge's only response was a gasp while she held her bandaged shoulder and side. Shadow understood that it was her previous injuries and quickly walked over to her. "Here, let me help you" Shadow stated softly as he put his hands on her wounds.

Shadow's hands began to glow a blue color as Rouge's pain went away. She looked baffled at what had just happened. "How did you…"

"Don't worry about it Rouge," Shadow reassured. "I have some basic healing powers where I give off some of my chaos energy."

Sonic perked up. "Can you bring back dead people?"

Shadow looked at him. "Probably, but I would need to use my own life energy."

"But aren't you immortal?" Knuckles asked.

Shadow looked away. "I suppose…"

Rouge listened closely to the conversation while removing her bandages and tossing them in the nearest garbage can. She looked down to inspect herself and was shocked to find not a single scratch on her. She smiled. 'Thanks again, Shady.'

Everyone continued conversing long into the night. Even Shadow opened up a little more. By now, it was already morning and everyone had totally forgotten about sleep. They all continued until it was already noon.

Sonic and Shadow were currently in a conversation about which one of them was taller.

"I'm telling you, I've got a clean half inch on you!" Sonic said while crossing his arms.

Shadow was a bout to respond when his eyes widened as he stood up.

Sonic looked confused at the hedgehog. "Shadow, what is it?"

The dark hedgehog looked at Sonic with his eyes still wide. "He's here."

Sonic gasp slightly as did everyone else, for they heard Shadow as well.

"What are we going to do?" Cream asked.

Shadow turned to Rouge and Amber. "You two take Amy, Tails and Cream, and go downstairs, NOW!"

The two nodded as Rouge looked at Shadow. "Be careful."

Shadow smiled at her. "Don't' worry, I'll be back, I promise."

Rouge smiled back and took Cream and Tails downstairs.

Amber faced Knuckles before leaving. "You be careful too"

Knuckles gave her a toothy smile. "Count on it."

Amy walked up to Sonic and spoke. "Be careful Sonic."

Sonic smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up. Amy also made her way down to the basement with Amber.

Shadow looked at Omega. "Omega, go get the Chaos and Master emeralds."

"Affirmative!" Omega disappeared downstairs and came back with the eight gems. Shadow raised his hand as the eight gems floated to him and slowly hovered around him. "Now, go downstairs and protect them! And do NOT let them leave, understood?"

"Affirmative!" The robot droned as he proceeded downstairs. Shadow faced Sonic and Knuckles. "You ready?" Both gave nervous nods as the three headed out the door.

Outside

The three companions walked outside to be met with heavy blinding rainfall. The light from the emeralds floating around Shadow's head gave them some clear sight, but only a little. Trough it all, a monstrous figure flapped its giant wings silently in the stormy sky. Sonic and Knuckles backed up a bit but Shadow stood his ground.

Eclipse smirked as he saw Shadow. "HELLO SHADOW, DID YOU MISS ME?"


	13. Chaotic Battle Part 1

Chapter 13

Shadow looked at his monstrous brother and gave him a glare as he spoke those words. "Not really."

Eclipse's smirk grew. "OH WELL, I GUESS SOME PEOPLE ARE NEVER PLEASED."

Shadow shook his head at Eclipse and took a step forward. "This ends right here, right now Eclipse!"

Shadow looked back at Knuckles and Sonic. "I'll distract him while you two transform into your Hyper forms, got it?" Shadow whispered, making sure Eclipse would not hear him. The two nodded at him and Shadow pointed his hand at the two, causing the emeralds to float over to them.

Shadow looked back towards Eclipse. The dark hedgehog closed his eyes and curled his fists together as golden flames started dancing around his body. His fur blinked golden a few times as his quills stood on end. Finally, with one golden flash, Shadow's fur turned permanently gold as he entered his Super form.

The hedgehog opened his eyes and looked back at Eclipse. He pushed himself off the ground and hovered towards the silver monster. "W cannot fight here Eclipse."

The monster tilted his head slightly. "AND WHY NOT?" But as soon as those words past his lips the beast realized why. "OH, SO YOU DON'T WANT INNOCENTS TO BE HURT, DO YOU? YOU'RE SO PATHETIC SHADOW!"

"Listen, we will fight somewhere else, got it?" Shadow snapped.

Eclipse shook his giant head playfully. "WHY SHOULD WE GO TO ANOTHER BATTLEGROUND WHEN I CAN MAKE ONE RIGHT HERE?"

Shadow gave Eclipse a confused look. "What do you"- Before Shadow could finish his sentence however, the monstrous form of Eclipse raised both of his hands as the entire ground down below began to shake. Rocks and concrete started cracking as streets, parking lots, and entire fields were forcefully ripped out of the ground.

Shadow's eyes widened at this as the huge chunks of land floated up over the two hedgehogs and beyond the clouds. Shadow looked down and saw the destruction left behind. Buildings were on the brink of collapsing and rain water quickly filled the giant holes and rips in the earth that were left behind.

Fearing the worst, Shadow looked down to check on Rouge's mansion to find it still very much in tact. The hedgehog mentally sighed and turned his attention back towards Eclipse who smirked at him.

"FOLLOW ME!" Eclipse ordered as his wings pounded more furiously as he took higher altitude. Shadow also began ascending when he felt two power surges. He looked down to see the eight emeralds spinning around a blue and red figure. Shadow smiled as he flew upward through the turbulent clouds.

Shadow kept going through the lighting and rain filled clouds when he suddenly reached his destination. The golden hedgehog looked around to see all the parts that Eclipse ripped from the ground hovering around in. They were all stationary and barely moved up and down. All the separate pieces of land were apart as they created what looked like a set of small islands, with the sky representing the sea.

The sun shone brightly on all the land and the super powered hedgehog. Shadow turned to his side to find Eclipse standing on a large chink of flat concrete with his wings folded behind his back.

The evil hedgehog smirked at him. "YOU READY?"

Shadow did not respond, but instead charged at Eclipse. A golden burst of energy was left behind from his charge as Shadow sped towards Eclipse. The silver hedgehog had not yet made any attempt to dodge the attack or even move his body as he just stood there with a large smirk plastered on his face.

Shadow finally reached Eclipse and threw one pf his super powered fists at the monstrous hedgehog. The fist made impact with a loud boom as everything got awkwardly still. Shadow looked up and was shocked to see Eclipse still standing in his exact same position smirking at the small hedgehog that had his fist burrowed in his stomach.

Eclipse tensed his body up a little as a strong gust of energy came forth and knocked Shadow away. The golden hedgehog soon recovered however and floated above a small portion of a broken road while staring at the monstrous Eclipse.

Shadow's eyes widened to see Eclipse show no signs of pain or even feeling anything. Eclipse enjoyed every moment of the whole ordeal as he spoke. "AS YOU CAN SEE SHADOW, THINGS ARE A LITTLE DIFFERENT NOW!"

Shadow swallowed a dry lump in his throat and responded. "But…how are you…able to…stand up to that?"

Eclipse threw his giant head back and laughed. "STILL SO NAÏVE BROTHER? WELL, LET ME EXPLAIN TO YOU EXACTLY WHAT HAS CHANGED: AS YOU CAN SEE, I AM WAY MORE POWERFUL THAN I WAS AT OUR LAST ENCOUNTER. WHY YOU MIGHT ASK?" Eclipse's amused facial expression turned to a serious one. "YOU SEE, AFTER OUR LAST ENCOUNTER, I REALIZED I COULD NOT YET FULLY CONTROL MY POWER, AND SINCE I HAD TO GET OUT OF THAT BATTLE ALIVE TO TRAIN, I DECIDED TO USE YOUR LITTLE GIRLFRIEND TO ESCAPE. EVER SINCE THEN, I HAVE BEEN TRAINING AND I MUST SAY…" Eclipse momentarily cut himself off as he pointed a giant clawed hand towards a large chunk of soil. A large silver orb formed within his claw and he released it, totally destroying the piece of land. "…IT FEELS PRETTY DAMN GOOD!" Eclipse continued while smirking.

Shadow, even though he would never admit it, was truly timid about facing Eclipse. Now that he was at least ten times stronger, how could he stand a chance. But then, a thought struck the hedgehog. 'Yes that's it! The Ultra form! That should be enough to bring him down. I just hope Sonic and Knuckles would hurry up!'

On cue, two white and pink streaks burst through the dark clouds before the two combatants as Sonic and Knuckles both appeared, in their Hyper forms. "That Calvary is here!" Sonic shouted to Shadow.

Before the two headed over to him, Shadow caught Knuckles putting down eight gray objects on a grassy, bumpy, chunk of land. 'The Chaos and Master Emeralds!'

Shadow knew they did not yet regain their power though so transforming now was not an option. Sonic and Knuckles flew over to Shadow and the three faced Eclipse, who was still on that same piece of land, only now his giant arms were crossed over his chest. "THREE ON ONE, EH? WELL I SUPPOSE IT'LL MAKE IT MORE INTERESTING. HERE I COME!"

As those words left his lips, Eclipse's wings unfolded as he charged for the three heroes. Eclipse turned to the left and struck his first attack against Knuckles, who was totally caught off guard by the monster's new speed and was forcefully knocked back. Eclipse then did a 180 and launched a side kick towards Sonic, who ducked just in time. Next, Eclipse's tail lashed out towards Shadow who was whipped in the stomach by it.

Bending over in pain, a small amount of blood escaped his lips as a large bead of sweat ran down the side of his face. Sonic used this opportunity and launched himself over Shadow and delivered a straight kick towards Eclipse's face. The monster got hit head on and was surprised that it actually hurt.

Sonic did not stop there though as he formed his hands into what looked like a bowl, with his fingers curled at the ends. A white energy orb formed within as Sonic released his attack. "EAT THIS! HYPER BLAST!"

A large white energy blast erupted from Sonic's hands and headed straight for Eclipse. The hedgehog put his hands up and caught the orb, he was struggling however, to keep it back. Knuckles, who had since recovered also, formed an energy orb in one hand. "THUNDER ARROW!" The bolt of energy flew towards Eclipse and connected with Sonic's attack, making the orb Eclipse was trying to hold back even bigger.

Shadow had also recovered and also formed his own attack within his hands. "CHAOS SPEAR!" The yellow energy bolt flew towards Eclipse and also formed with Sonic's attack, creating an orb almost as large as Eclipse himself.

Meanwhile, Eclipse was still struggling to hold back the attack. The heroes however, did not intend on giving the beast a breather as Sonic moved himself to a horizontal base and Shadow and Knuckles each took hold of one of his feet with both of their hands.

With one powerful thrust, they launched the pink and white hedgehog forward. The hedgehog came at Eclipse with blazing speed and put one of his fists in front of him. Sonic made contact with a large white energy spark and dug at the attack, trying to push it into Eclipse.

The added strength was too much for the monster as his arms gave way to its negative force. The attack made a loud impact with Eclipse as a neck bristling scream filled the air. Sonic did a summersault and flew back to his companions. The white smoke cleared to reveal the gruesome sight.

There was a large bloody hole in Eclipse's stomach and chest; both of his arms were blown off as well of half of his left leg. The monster released another scream before glowing silver and reforming its body parts.

The large hedgehog cracked his knuckles as his claws coiled into fists. With one beat of his wings, the monster charged once again. Eclipse came at Sonic first and lashed his tail out towards the Hyper hedgehog. Sonic was too quick however, as he ducked under the attack.

Sonic countered by shooting a Super Sonic Wind at the menace. Eclipse raised his arms up as the attack bounced harmlessly off his arms. Shadow came at him next with a round house kick that hit Eclipse right in his jaw. The giant monster wavered for a moment but this was enough for Knuckles to shoot a Thunder Arrow right in his left eye.

Eclipse released an ear piercing scream as he raised his hands to cover the damaged eye. The heroes were not done though, as all three of them launched a small energy blast towards him. With his one good eye barely open, Eclipse saw the attack coming and warped out of the way, reappearing in the same spot after the attacks had passed.

His eye glowed before he removed his hands from it and squinted it open again. The giant hedgehog glared at his three opponents and raised one of his claws, pointed it at the three. "IV'E HAD ENOUGH OF YOU PESTS!"

When he bellowed those words, a giant Chaos Bomb was launched from his claw towards the group. Shadow got in front of Sonic and Knuckles and began to glow a devilish red. "CHAOS BLAST!" Shadow shouted as the giant red energy wave consumed his and the oncoming attack.

The blast cleared as all three heroes were unfazed. Eclipse growled. 'I HAVE TO TAKE DOWN SHADOW FIRST!' The monster thought before launching himself at the three again. All three got into defensive position as Eclipse reeled back to deliver a blow to Knuckles. But right before his fist made impact, the monstrous hedgehog disappeared.

A split second later, Eclipse reappeared behind Shadow and delivered a vicious punch to the back of his head. Shadow's red irises shrank as his entire body was sent downward towards a large grassy piece of land.

With a loud boom and a huge cloud of dirt, the super hedgehog made impact as he just lay there, motionless. Knuckles and Sonic quickly turned around and spotted Eclipse, who had a smirk plastered on his face. "ONE DOWN TWO TO GO!"

Eclipse once again charged at the two and sent one of his muscular legs towards Sonic. The hedgehog was hit with full force and was sent flying backwards. Knuckles then threw one of his fists against the evil hedgehog but Eclipse caught him by the wrist with his tail. Eclipse started whirling his tail around and sent Knuckles flying higher into the air.

A flash of light illuminated the area as Eclipse warped over Knuckles and hit him back down with a monstrous kick. Knuckles' body fell completely lifeless towards a piece of concrete. The Echidna made impact as his Hyper form burned away.

Eclipse smirked as he directed his attention back towards Sonic, who was coming back at him. Sonic's eyes widened when he saw Knuckles laying on the floating piece of concrete. "Knuckles!"

Eclipse smirked. "I THINK YOU SHOULD WORRY ABOUT YOURSELF FIRST, HERO!" And with those words spoken, Eclipse charged for Sonic.

With Shadow

Ruby red eyes slowly blinked open as Shadow regained consciousness. The hedgehog's super form had already burned away due to his lack of concentration as the black hedgehog pushed himself off the ground.

Shadow's eyes darted upwards when a loud explosion shook the skies. He looked p to see a giant silver beast and a Hyper hedgehog collide with their elbows. 'But…where is Knuckles?' The dark hedgehog thought. The Echidna was nowhere in sight and Shadow was beginning to get worried.

He quickly shook those thoughts out of his head however, when he once again looked up at the two fighters. The dark hedgehog rose to his full height as his black fur blinked back to golden as his quills stood on end.

Shadow was about to fly back towards Eclipse when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Looking back, Shadow spotted the Chaos and Master emeralds lying there in the wet grass, their color and power fully restored.

Shadow smiled as he flew back down towards the ground and landed by the emeralds. With one wave of his hand, the emeralds lifted off the ground and formed a circle around the hedgehog.

Shadow closed his eyes and curled his hands into fists as the eight emeralds started spinning. Soon, the emeralds became nothing more than a rainbow colored line as energy crackled around them and into the dark hedgehog.

Shadow's fur blinked from golden to silver as he entered his Hyper form. He did not stop there however, as his fur changed from silver to ice blue. In an instant, the emeralds stopped spinning and fell to the ground in a dull gray color.

Above them stood the transformed Shadow. The hedgehog opened his eyes which were now the same color as his fur, icy blue. The now transformed Shadow slowly lifted off the ground and shot towards the battle.

With Sonic

Sonic took another hard kick from Eclipse as a large red strip was formed across his stomach. The hedgehog coughed for a moment before his Hyper form faded away and he fell towards the ground.

Eclipse smirked as he watched the hedgehog fall but his smirk soon disappeared when a blue blur caught Sonic. Ultra Shadow now floated below Eclipse, staring at the monster with Sonic over his shoulder.

Shadow's gaze left Eclipse as he floated down to where he had spotted Knuckles was laying and put the sea blue hedgehog right beside him. Shadow then flew back up and came to the same level as Eclipse.

Eclipse smirked at Shadow. "AH, THE ULTRA FORM! I HAVE TO SAY I WAS AMAZED THE FIRST TIME I SAW YOU LIKE THIS BUT NOW…….YOU AREN'T EVEN IN THE SAME LEAGUE AS I!"

Shadow smirked at him. "Is that so? Well then, I guess we'll just have to see for ourselves."

Eclipse got into a fighting stance. "INDEED WE WILL!"

Shadow's smirk disappeared as he charged for Eclipse, leaving a bright blue energy burst behind him.

Author's Note: Remember to subscribe to the C2 I am in, Tales of an Ultimate.


	14. Chaotic Battle Part 2

Chapter 14

Shadow's blue energy trail slowly disintegrated in the air as he advanced towards Eclipse. The evil hedgehog took a defensive stance as Shadow made impact with a bright blue explosion. Within the bright light, two silhouettes could be seen, one small and one big throwing an array of punches and kicks towards each other.

The light cleared as both figures warped away at the same time. They both reappeared twenty feet east of their previous position and continued to throw punches. Shadow came at Eclipse with a Chaos Spear but Eclipse swatted it away with his left arm. Eclipse then came at Shadow with a side kick but Shadow ducked just in time as the kick flew by harmlessly overhead.

Eclipse's tail lashed out for Shadow but the hedgehog was prepared as he caught it with both hands. With one powerful pull, the end of Eclipse's tail was ripped from the rest as blood fell towards the ground far below. Eclipse growled slightly as his tail reformed and he threw his fist at Shadow. Shadow arched his back backwards to avoid the attack.

Eclipse then warped right above Shadow and did a horizontal flip, coming down on Shadow's entire body with his leg. A massive pain shot through Shadow's body as he was sent spiraling downwards. The hedgehog soon recovered however, and warped back towards Eclipse.

Eclipse's claw glowed a dull white as an energy orb formed within it. "CHAOS BOMB!" The attack launched right towards the unsuspecting Shadow as he moved to the side, with the attack only hitting his left arm. Immediately, blood started oozing out of multiple gashes as huge black burn marks covered his tan skin where the fur was burned off.

Shadow grimaced a little from the pain but charged for Eclipse once again. Reeling his right fist back, Shadow sent it directly towards Eclipse's stomach. The monster took the hit and attempted his own hook, but Shadow moved his head to the left before impact. While Eclipse's massive body was lurched forward, Shadow thought it the perfect time for a certain attack.

"CHAOS FURY!" Light blue energy orbs surrounded Shadow's fists as he began pounding both powered up hands against Eclipse's stomach. The monster was too slow to react and was caught by the attack.

With every blow, Eclipse started sweating and huffing more as his body arched more and more. Shadow's face tightened up in concentration as he increased his speed to where it seemed almost impossible to see his arms.

Eclipse still did not react as energy bolts cracked around Shadow. Finally, the blue hedgehog let up and drifted back a little with the energy orbs still surrounding his fists Eclipse reeled over in pain as his breathing became very heavy. Shadow then stuck both of his arms towards his brother and released both orbs, sending them colliding with Eclipse's head.

Smoke filled the air as a monstrous scream echoed through the skies. The smoke cleared to reveal half of Eclipse's monstrous head had been completely scorched off. A light surrounded his body as the head reformed and Eclipse stood upright again breathing and sweating very heavily.

'He must be getting exhausted from all the regenerating.' Shadow thought. Not that the battle hadn't taken its toll on Shadow himself. Shadow's left arm was still bleeding heavily and there were other cuts and bruises scattered across his body.

Eclipse continued breathing heavily but came back at Shadow with a Chaos Sword in hand. Shadow's own body began to glow dark red, along with his eyes. When Eclipse was only a mere ten feet away, he launched his attack. The silver energy bolt flew towards Shadow, who was fully prepared.

"CHAOS BLAST!" Shadow shouted as a monstrous explosion, twice the size of a normal one, rocketed the sky. Eclipse reacted quickly though, and warped backwards to safety. When the Chaos Blast cleared, Eclipse charged full speed at Shadow and wrapped both clawed hands around the Ultra hedgehog's body.

Rouge's Mansion: Basement

Rouge paced around restlessly in her private gym while Cram, Tails, Amy, and Amber just sat on the cushioned ground of the ring.

Rouge finally snapped towards them. "How come we can't fight? Maybe they need our help!"

Amber sighed at Rouge. "Rouge, you know what my brother said: Stay here and be safe. He doesn't want us to get hurt."

Rouge huffed. "So what, I wanna help them! I'm worried about them!"

Amy snickered. "You mean you're worried about Shadow, right?"

Rouge blushed slightly at the pink hedgehog's comment. "Well…yeah! But I'm worried about the rest of them too!"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Yeah right!"

Rouge glared at Amy. "What about Sonic? Aren't you worried about him too?"

Amy's confident face turned to a worried one. "Yeah…I am." She mumbled.

Rouge then turned to Amber. "And what about Knuckles?"

Amber turned away at Rouge's comment. "He can handle himself."

Rouge growled at both females. "Come on! I know you wanna help them!"

Amber looked away slightly before answering. "Look, even if I did want to, Omega won't let us out!"

Rouge smirked. "Is that your only problem? Well then, I can handle that!"

Amber's eyes light up. "You can?"

Rouge stuck her nose up high in the air. "Of course I can! I've been traveling with Omega for a while and I know his weak points."

"Like what?" Amy asked.

Rouge looked at Amy. "Before I tell you, you have to tell me whether you're coming or not."

Amy thought for a moment and placed a finger on her chin. "Sure, I'll come. The men could use our help."

Rouge smiled. "That's more like it."

Rouge then motioned with her hands as everyone gathered around her. "Okay," She whispered. "Here's the plan."

Omega was silently standing in front of the exit when he heard a distress call. "Omega, I hurt my ankle! Could you come look at it?" Cream cried.

Omega directed his attention towards the rabbit in the fighting ring. "Affirmative!"

Omega slowly hovered over to the fallen rabbit and took a knee in front of her. "What is the condition of your ankle?" Omega asked.

"Well," Cream began. "It hurts right here!" Cream said pointing to the left side of her left ankle. "Affirmative, proceeding to scan!"

Omega's eyes light to a dull green color for a minute before returning to normal. "No possible injury found. Be more direct!" Omega ordered.

The robot looked at the rabbit to find she had run off to play with Tails. The colossal robot stood back up and turned back to the door to find three females walking out of the door. "HALT!" Omega ordered.

Rouge turned her head slightly as her eyes widened. "Uh Oh! RUN!" Immediately, all three girls ran out of the exit door as Omega's jets light up and he sped after them.

With Shadow

Eclipse added another great amount of pressure to the already crushing force that he was exerting on Shadow. The monster's entire body tensed up as Shadow unwillingly let out a scream of pain.

Eclipse smirked while looking down at Shadow. "THAT'S RIGHT LITTLE BROTHER, SCREAM!"

Shadow shook his head as if trying to get rid of the pain. He couldn't last much longer. His body was already pushed past its limits. The Ultra form was the only thing keeping him alive, and it was fading away fast.

Shadow's body tensed as he tried to get out of Eclipse's vice grip, only to have the monster add even more pressure. Blood started seeping out of Shadow's mouth as his vision started to get blurry.

His icy blue fur blinked black several times as Shadow began to lose consciousness. The dark hedgehog struggled to keep holding on.

Eclipse looked down and laughed evilly at Shadow's futile attempts at escape. "TRY ALL YOU WANT SHADOW, YOU'RE DONE FOR!"

Shadow tried ignoring Eclipse's insults but he knew the last one to be true. Shadow's power had been decreasing since the beginning of the battle while Eclipse's had stayed the same, maybe even gotten stronger.

Somehow, Eclipse really tapped into the new power of the Chaos form and Shadow just couldn't keep up. Though Shadow was starting to lose touch with the outside world, Eclipse's voice once again boomed across his ears.

"YOU HAVE FAILED SHADOW!" Eclipse said while smirking victoriously. "I AM THE NEW RULER OF THE PLANET EARTH!"

Shadow shook his head furiously and snapped his eyes shut. "No, no, no, I won't let you!" Shadow stated weakly.

Eclipse smirked again. "I'M AFRAID THAT'S NOT AN OPTION SHADOW, I WIN, YOU LOSE! I WILL RULE UNCONTESTED AS THE ENTIRE WORLD WILL BOW AT MY FEET!"

Eclipse then leaned in closer to the hedgehog in his grip and spoke in almost a whisper "…And when it is all said and done, I will kill the bat you treasure so dearly, right in front of your eyes!"

Shadow's eyes snapped open at that comment as a dull white energy surrounded him. Eclipse backed his head up in a confused manner and stared at the hedgehog. Shadow looked back up at Eclipse. His eyes were now a shiny golden color.

With a huge flash of white light, Shadow broke free from Eclipse's grip. The awestruck monster stumbled back as the white light cleared. He looked up to see Shadow staring hatefully at him.

"You will do…NO SUCH THING!" With a burst of light, Shadow's fur blinked to pure white as he appeared right in front of Eclipse in the blink of an eye and delivered a devastating punch right to his stomach.

The monster's eyes widened as his mouth lurched open and appeared frozen in a silent scream. Lurching forward, a long line of blood ran down from his lips and flew down below.

Shadow's fur blinked back to icy blue as his eyes also returned to their natural color. He was also baffled at what had just happened. 'What was that? Was that some kind of new form?'

Eclipse slowly arched back to a straight position and looked at the Ultra hedgehog in front of him with wide eyes. "WHY DID YOU SUDDENLY GET THAT POWERFUL?"

Shadow looked up at him with a confused look plastered on his face. "I…don't know."

Eclipse slightly tilted his head but it soon returned to a perfect vertical position as he charged for Shadow again. He came at him with a Chaos Sword in hand. Shadow also regained consciousness to the situation and started gathering a Chaos Spear in his right hand.

Eclipse's body lurched forwards right in front of Shadow. "CHAOS WORD!"

Shadow's hand also struck forth. "Chaos Spear!"

Both attacks negated each other out as both ultimates charged for each other again.

With The Girls

Rouge, Amber, and Amy burst through the front door of Rouge's mansion and were met by heavy rain and thunderous lighting.

Struggling to see through the dark storm, the girls soon saw a great number of things out of place, literally.

Huge chunks of land were completely missing everywhere throughout the neighborhood. "What in the world…" Rouge said with wide eyes.

The girls didn't have long to think about it though as a loud voice was heard. "RETURN TO SAFETY IMMEDIATELY!"

Rouge looked back to see Omega coming back at them with his jets shooting him forward. The albino bat quickly turned to Amber. "Quick, turn into your Super form!"

Amber looked at Rouge questionably. "But why?"

"JUST DO IT!" Rouge screamed.

Amber nodded nervously as her fur transformed to a brilliant golden. "Now, grab Amy and fly up, I know where they are!" Rouge instructed.

Amber nodded again and scooped up the unsuspecting pink hedgehog. "Hey! What are you"- But before she could finish, Amber already shot up through the clouds.

Rouge then began flapping her wings and took to the skies just in time as Omega attempted to grab her. Rouge smiled and proceeded to fly upward.

With Shadow

Shadow and Eclipse impacted once again and quickly sprang away from each other. Eclipse now glowed brilliant silver as Shadow began to glow dark red.

Eclipse quickly warped towards Shadow and released his attack. "CHAOS INFERNO!"

Shadow was prepared for the attack and let loose a Chaos Blast of equal magnitude. With a loud explosion, both blasts cancelled each other out as Shadow charged for Eclipse through the smoke.

Shadow spun sideways and delivered a hard side kick right to Eclipse's left arm. Eclipse winced slightly but sent his right fist straight at Shadow who had no time to dodge and was hit full force. Shadow's head snapped back as he stood still in that position.

Eclipse looked over at him and retreated his arms and then folded them both across his chest. "DO YOU NEED A PERSONAL INVITATION, OR WHAT?"

Shadow moved his head back to look at Eclipse. A thin line of blood was running from the corner of his lip, and he had a huge smirk on his face. "No, I just thought…" Shadow formed his hands into a bowl shape as a purple energy ball formed within it. "…I'd try something new."

Eclipse's eyes widened. "HOW CAN YOU STILL HAVE THAT MUCH ENERGY LEFT?"

Shadow's eyes narrowed. "Because I am the Ultimate Life! CHAOS NIGHTMARE!"

The devastating attack was released and flew straight for the bewildered Eclipse. Reacting to slow, the beast was hit directly in the chest. A loud explosion shook the skies as a huge cloud of smoke filled the air.

It cleared with a strong gust of wind, showing the damaged Eclipse, or what was left of him. Only one arm, half the chest, and the head remained. Shadow smirked warily. Eclipse opened his eyes and stared hatefully at the hedgehog.

Sweat ran down his face as he contorted it. His body began to glow silver as his body reformed. The monster opened his eyes as he breathed heavily.

Shadow smiled. "I guess someone's getting tired?"

Eclipse looked up and glared at Shadow. "THIS IS FAR FROM OVER SHADOW!"

Shadow continued to smirk when he felt the last of his energy leave him. In the blink of an eye, Shadow's blue fur changed back to silver as he downgraded to his Hyper form.

Eclipse laughed evilly when he saw this. "LOOKS LIKE I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE GETTING TIRED; NOW THIS WILL BE A WHOLE LOT EASIER!"

Shadow breathed heavily. He already lost the Ultra form and he couldn't sustain this one much longer. That last attack took the rest of his juice out of him. Eclipse took the opportunity and charged for the weary Shadow, driving his elbow into his face, and sending the hedgehog flying back.

With Rouge

Rouge continued flying up through the dark clouds steadily when she burst through the upper layer. She momentarily covered her eyes from the harsh sunlight but soon squinted them open to see all the missing chunks of land floating silently around her.

Rouge gasped slightly but soon got back to reality when she heard her name. The bat looked over to see Amber and Amy kneeling by something on a piece of grassy land.

Struggling to keep airborne, Rouge warily flapped her wings and landed beside the two to see them sitting next to Sonic and Knuckles, both out cold.

Rouge looked at Amber. "Are they…alive?"

Amber looked up from Knuckles and smiled slightly. "Yeah, they're just knocked out."

Rouge sighed but her calm face soon turned to a concerned one when she realized something. "Doesn't that mean Shadow's fighting Eclipse alone?"

Amy looked up, equally shocked by the realization. "Oh my gosh, he is! But, where are they?"

The moment those words left her lips, a loud crash was heard not too far away as a huge cloud of dust was stirred up. All three girls looked up to see Shadow, now back in his normal form, lying face first in the dirt.

Amber and Rouge immediately sprang up and ran to his side. They both took a knee in front of him as Rouge scooped Shadow up in her lap. "Shadow, Shadow?"

Shadow wearily opened his eyes to look at the bat. Once he laid eyes on her, his weary expression turned to an angry one. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Rouge was a little taken back by Shadow's cold tone but regained her composure. "We couldn't let you boys fight alone."

Shadow gave her a questionable look. "We?"

Amber came into his view, as did Amy who had walked over. "Yeah, we." Amber stated.

Shadow looked at all of them and started standing up, however, he fell back down after the attempt.

"Shadow, please. Stay down, you're hurt." Rouge coaxed.

Shadow looked at her. "Eclipse is coming, I have to get up!"

"Shadow, you can't fight him in your condition!" Amber said with concern in her voice.

"If I don't, WHO WILL?" Shadow yelled.

Amber flinched at Shadow but responded. "I will."

Shadow's eyes widened. "What?"

Amber faced him. "You heard me, I'll fight Eclipse."

Shadow shook his head. "Amber, he's way to strong."

Amber smiled at him, "I have a few tricks up my sleeve."

Shadow tilted his head. "Like what?"

Amber smirked and stuck her hands in the air. The seven Chaos Emeralds floated over to her from the ground.

Shadow's eyes widened. "How…?"

Amber smiled. "We picked them all up when we got here. The Master Emerald isn't recharged yet but should be soon."

Shadow nodded at Amber. "Alright, give it a try."

"AM I INTERRUPTING THE REUNION..."

Everyone turned around wide-eyed to see the monstrous Eclipse standing not twenty feet from them with his wings folded behind his back and his arms crossed. "…BECAUSE I WOULD HATE TO SEE THIS LOVELY REUNION TURN INTO A FUNERAL!"


	15. Double the Chaos

Chapter 15

Shadow, even in his feeble position, still managed to glare at Eclipse. The silver hedgehog caught this and smirked at him. "WELL, SOMEONE'S HAPPY TO SEE ME!"

Shadow gave his brother an even colder stare. "Yeah right!" He scoffed.

Eclipse smirked again and then turned his attention back towards Amber. "…AND YOU, TRAITOR, WILL YOU BE THE NEXT TO FEEL MY WRATH?"

Amber smirked, while the emeralds started spinning around her. "Something like that."

Amber's fur blinked to solid gold as she entered her Super form. The emeralds now started gaining velocity as they turned into a rainbow colored line. Amber closed her eyes and tightened her hands into fists as the energy began to transfer.

Below, the clouds were being set in even more turmoil than they were already in. Thunder was heard clearly from the force of the transformation going on and lighting bolts even shot out of the clouds and higher into the skies.

Amber's face contorted as the last remaining Chaos energy was transferred to her body. A bright white light illuminated the area as the transformation completed. Everyone's arms shot up out of instinct to protect their eyes, all except Eclipse, who was watching with great interest.

The light subsided, as the transformed Amber hovered over a small crater. Her fur was now a very heavy purple color as dark energy sparks danced around her body. The female opened her eyes to reveal them to now be a dark blue.

Eclipse's eyes widened slightly as his mouth opened a little to talk. "IT…CAN'T BE!"

Shadow and the rest of the group looked on confused at Amber and back towards the shocked Eclipse. Amy tilted her head slightly and bent down to talk to Shadow. "Shadow…what's he talking about?"

Shadow took his gaze off Amber and looked at the pink hedgehog. "Amber… just transformed...into…her Chaos form!"

Amy's and Rouge's eyes both widened. "WHAT?" They both shouted.

Instead of responding to their outburst, Shadow looked back at Amber. The girls followed suite and also looked back at the female.

Amber slightly flexed her muscles as even more energy sparks danced across her body. Eclipse smirked and unfolded his arms, getting into a fighting stance. "SO, YOU WANNA FIGHT, LITTLE GIRL?"

Amber smirked. "You bet…"

In a burst of purple light, Amber charged for Eclipse who put his arms up in a cross position. Amber made impact with another burst of light as she brought her elbow against Eclipse's crossed arms.

Eclipse scooted back slightly from the force of the attack but soon regained composure and swung a fist at Amber. The she-hog dodged the assault easily and darted back, pointing her hand at the monster. "CHAOS BEAM!" A vicious purple beam of Chaos energy was released and hit Eclipse directly in the chest.

The monster let loose a howl of pain as the attack made a black burn mark across his entire giant chest. Amber smirked. "You're gonna have to step up your pace a little, brother."

Eclipse growled in agitation as he flexed his wings and took high into the air. Amber followed and shortly, they were both high above their spectators.

Amber started things off with a side kick to Eclipse. The monster dodged and tried delivering his own kick. Eclipse's attack hit its mark and caused Amber to grimace in pain slightly. Eclipse didn't stop there however, and lashed his giant tail out at Amber. Amber elevated her body very quickly as the tail flew by harmlessly beneath her.

Amber flew back down to her previous position and charged for Eclipse again.

With Shadow, Rouge, and Amy

The beaten and bruised Shadow was still under the gentle care of the albino bat, Rouge, lying in her lap with Rouge softly stroking his quills while she and Amy watched the battle that was taking place above them.

Shadow's mind and eyes however, were on another thing. And that particular "thing" was none other than the white bat that was cradling him in her arms.

Shadow didn't want to admit it, but he was very relaxed and at peace under the huntress' soft and warm touch. There was something about it that the dark hedgehog couldn't figure out though. 'Why am I so comfortable with her? I always erupt with power when she's harmed or threatened. Could it be that I'-

Shadow's thought were cut short by a loud groan of pain. All three companions looked to the side to see the red Echidna next to them was now stirring slightly. Amy jumped up from her sitting position and ran over to the Echidna.

Taking a knee, Amy rolled him over slightly to find his eyes wide open. "Amy?" He coughed. "What happened?"

"Eclipse happened." Amy responded.

Knuckles' eyes widened slightly. "Eclipse, where's he at? Where's Sonic and Shadow?"

Amy put both of her hands up. "Whoa, slow down Knucklehead! Sonic is out cold right beside you and Shadow's getting some "special treatment" for his wounds."

Knuckles titled his head slightly as he got up into a sitting position. "Special treatment?"

Amy smiled playfully and moved her body so Knuckles could see Shadow and Rouge, Knuckles' eyes widened in realization. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, okay. But you still didn't answer my first question."

Amy looked down slightly. "Eclipse is still alive."

Knuckles sat up even more. "Then who's fighting him?"

Amy faced him again. "Amber is."

Knuckles jumped up. "WHAT?" As soon as he sprung to his feet though, he fell back down from the pain in his body.

"Knuckles, you have to stay down, you're still hurt." Amy cooed.

"Oh man, my head."

Amy and Knuckles both looked to their side to see that the blue hedgehog was also stirring. Amy, of course, was delighted and immediately tried to jump on top of the hedgehog, completely forgetting about his wounds. "Sooooooooniiiiiiiiiiic!"

Sonic's eyes widened when he saw Amy. "Uh-Oh…"

Sonic barely dodged out of the way of Amy's onslaught by rolling his limp body to the right. "Amy please, I can't feel my body as it is!"

Amy stopped her attempts for hugging Sonic when she was reminded of his wounds. "Oh yeah, sorry."

"Do you mind shutting up?" Came a dark voice from not too far away. The owner of that voice was of course, Shadow.

Knuckles and Sonic tiredly dragged their bodies closer to Shadow and Rouge and lay down beside them. Amy also walked back over, in much less time than the two injured males.

Sonic smirked at Shadow when he saw what position he was in. Shadow seemed to read his counterparts mind and raised his voice before Sonic. "My threat still stands, Sonic!"

Sonic shut his mouth and looked across the whole surface of the area he was on. "Soooooooo, where's Amber and Eclipse?" He asked while looking at Amy. The pink hedgehog only pointed up as Sonic followed her finger's direction and saw two figures exchanging blows in the sky.

With Amber and Eclipse

Amber came at Eclipse with a round house kick, which the evil hedgehog half-heartily blocked with the back of his claw. The monster, in turn, swung a huge right fist against the female's now open body. Amber couldn't dodge or block in her position and was hit with full force.

Rocking back slightly, the purple hedgehog regained her composure and tried a straight kick using her entire body. Eclipse turned to the side as Amber flew by. The giant hedgehog began glowing dark, heavy silver as the energy in his body began to build up.

"CHAOS INFERNO!" Eclipse shouted as the devastating attack was unleashed upon the exposed Amber. The purple Chaos hedgehog once again had no time to dodge and was hit by the attack. The huge explosion sent the female flying back through the sky as she performed a horizontal flip to stop herself.

Looking back at the source of the attack, Amber spotted that through the smoke of the attack, faint silver light shone. Amber narrowed her eyes in an attempt to get a better view of what was lying before her but it soon was revealed when a strong gust of wing blew the smoke of the Chaos Inferno away.

High in the sky, above Amber and everyone else, Eclipse had gathered a massive energy orb. It was already twice the size of Eclipse and continued to grow. Amber's eyes widened. "No…"

With Shadow and Co.

The entire group's eyes also widened as their pupils shrunk to small dots.

"That energy attack has way to much power for only Amber!" Sonic said half amazed at the energy gathered and half frightened.

Shadow freed himself from Rouge's gentle grasp at that moment and stood tall. Rouge gave him a worried look. "Please…be careful Shadow."

Shadow turned back to her and gave her a dark, handsome smile. The dark hedgehog turned his back towards Rouge and the others as his fur burst to gold with one flex of his entire body. Bending his knees, Shadow shot off at incredible speeds.

With Amber and Eclipse

The female hedgehog's deep blue eyes were now totally wide in fear as she rocked back a little. "That's…too…much!"

"I can't believe you'd give up that easily."

Amber turned around to see Shadow floating next to her in his Super form. Amber smiled slightly. "Well, this is kinda different."

Shadow looked at her, then back at Eclipse. "No matter, we have to stop it anyway."

The energy attack that Eclipse was gathering was now well the size of over ten Eclipses and finally stopped growing.

Eclipse breathed out heavily and smirked when he saw Shadow and Amber, ready to counter his attack.

"LET'S SEE YOU STOP THIS ONE! CHAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOS MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!" With one push of both of his claws, the giant attack was released and was sent directly towards Shadow and Amber.

Through the bright light of the attack, Shadow faced Amber. "Amber, if we don't stop this, Station Square and everyone in it is doomed."

Amber nodded with a newly gained confidence and put her two hands out in front of her, ready to stop the attack. Shadow followed suite as both hedgehog awaited the devastating attack that had the power to wipe out Station Square.

Eclipse saw this and laughed evilly. "TRY ALL YOU WANT DEAR SIBLINGS, IT'S OVER! EARTH AND EVERYONE ON IT IS MINE!"


	16. Death of a Huntress

Chapter 16

The giant Chaos Meteor attack that Eclipse had released drew closer and closer to Amber and Shadow as they both pushed their bodies forward and tensed their muscles. With one loud boom, the attack and the hedgehogs made contact.

Shadow and Amber both pushed back with all their strength as their energy barriers surrounded them. Brilliant golden sparks danced off Shadow's body as Amber's gave off a bright violet array of energy sparks.

By now, the attack had been pushing at the two for at least a full minute when Shadow slowly found his body and strength giving in. Amber noticed this and managed to turn her head towards him. "Come on Shadow!" She yelled, "Give it all you got!"

Shadow looked back at his sister and nodded. In a burst of light, Shadow gave of some of his own energy to push the attack back. Amber looked at him again, but this time with a worried expression.

'Damn, we're not making any progress! If this keeps up, the attack will break through!' Amber thought. But just then, an idea hit her. She turned to her struggling brother. "Shadow!"

The dark hedgehog turned his head and looked at her. "At this rate, the attack will break through, but I have an idea to stop it."

Shadow nodded at his sister as she began to loosen her grip on the giant energy attack. Shadow's eyes widened and Amber caught his expression. "Don't worry, trust me."

Shadow reluctantly nodded again as Amber completely let go of the attack. At first, the force of handling the attack alone pushed Shadow back some, but he regained his composure after some struggling.

Behind him, Amber began charging up an attack of her own. She put her hands in front of her as six violet energy orbs appeared in a perfect circle. The energy orbs began growing and were soon each the size of Amber's head. The orbs then started spinning in a vertical circle and charged more energy.

Amber pulled both of her hands back as the attack also moved back with her. "Let's see how you like this Eclipse! CHAOS BLOSSOM!" With one push of both of her hands, the spinning circle of energy orbs was released and flew straight past Shadow and into the Chaos Meteor.

As soon as they collided, an array of energy sparks flew from the point of encounter as the Chaos Meteor was pushed back. Shadow slowly let go of the attack as the Chaos Blossom continued steadily pushing Eclipse's attack back.

Up above, Eclipse's smirk disappeared when he saw the Chaos Blossom being launched. "IT CAN'T BE!" He shouted in disbelief.

Back with the two struggling attacks, Amber called her brothers name while panting heavily. "Shadow, launch an attack to push the Chaos Meteor away!"

Shadow looked back at her and nodded. He turned back to the two struggling attacks and began charging up one of his own. "CHAOS SPEAR!" Shadow shouted as the attack was released and shot into the Chaos Meteor.

That was the breaking point as the attack was completely launched back to its origin at twice the speed before with the Chaos Spear and Chaos blossom still steadily pushing the attack. Eclipse began to ready himself to hold the attack off. "WAIT A MINUTE, WHY SHOULD I WASTE MY STRENGHT?"

The giant hedgehog smirked as the attack began to close in on him more. When it was just about to make contact, Eclipse simply warped out of harm's way, with the attack blazing past him.

Amber and Shadow both looked on in disbelief. "He didn't even try to stop it!" Amber murmured.

"I guess he's smarter than we thought." Shadow told Amber.

Amber looked down at Shadow's hands for a moment to see that his left glove's palm was completely burned off, exposing his soft fur underneath. His right glove was completely gone due to the fact that he didn't have a bracelet there to try and secure it.

Amber faced him weakly. "Shadow, I'm kind of getting low on strength."

Shadow thought about this for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "Alright, give me the rest of your Chaos powers and I'll continue. You go and rest."

Amber nodded and floated over to Shadow, placing a hand on his golden chest. Amber closed her eyes and crunched up her face as the energy started transferring. Shadow also closed his eyes. The violet energy seemed to flow out of Amber's body and disappeared within Shadow.

Shadow's eyes shot open as his fur blazed from gold to silver, and then to ice blue. His eyes also changed from a fiery red to a cold blue. Amber's face relaxed as her fur turned back to normal and she started falling down.

In one swift move, Shadow caught his sister and warped back to the others who were a little startled at their sudden appearance. Shadow gently lay Amber down next to Knuckles as the Echidna faced him with a worried look.

Shadow smiled. "Don't worry, she's just knocked out."

Knuckles breathed deeply as Shadow warped away again.

Once again high above the sky, Shadow reappeared about ten feet away from Eclipse. "HMPH, FINALLY READY TO GET THIS OVER WITH?"

Shadow smirked at him." Of course…"

In one burst of blue light, Shadow charged for his monstrous brother.

Shadow came at Eclipse with a straight fist first. Eclipse easily dodged and sent a hook towards Shadow. The dark hedgehog also dodged and, with incredible speed, planted a round house kick right across Eclipse's giant face.

Eclipse growled but ignored the minor pain, charging for Shadow again. In one swift move, the giant's tail lashed out as he tried whipping Shadow with it. The blue hedgehog was too fast however, and ducked out of the way.

In the blink of an eye, Shadow caught the tail before it retreated. Eclipse's eyes widened slightly as Shadow smirked. The dark hedgehog's hand began to glow a bright blue as he charged up his attack.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted as the attack was launched. Eclipse tried to dodge, but Shadow firmly grasped onto the tail every time he tried. The blast hit Eclipse as a scream echoed through the air, followed by a cloud of smoke.

Shadow didn't stop there however, as his free hand began to glow again. "Chaos Barrage!" Shadow shouted as the hundreds of energy blasts erupted from his hand and towards the smoke cloud containing Eclipse.

Shadow could feel the tail wiggle almost uncontrollably in his grip as he continued blasting at Eclipse. More screams filled the quiet sky as the small cloud grew to abnormal size. Shadow fired one last blast and stopped the assault.

But once again, Shadow was not through, as his hand began to glow a violet color. "Chaos Nightmare!" The dark hedgehog shouted as the violet energy ball was launched at the smoke cloud. Shadow knew it made impact when he heard a loud crash, followed by a blood chilling scream.

Shadow smirked, obviously satisfied, and released Eclipse's tail, which had now become completely motionless.

With the Others

Sonic was totally wide-eyed from Shadow's ferocious assault. "Man, loot at him go!" He almost shouted.

Rouge was also highly impressed by Shadow's display of power. 'He can go beyond THAT? That's insane!' She mentally yelled.

The smoke cloud above started clearing as everyone's attention shifted from their own thoughts and back to the battle.

With Shadow

The tail of his monstrous brother loosely dangled back into the cloud of smoke, where it disappeared. The smoke started to clear as Shadow squinted his eyes a little to see the image of his brother better.

The smoke finally completely cleared to show that there was almost nothing left of Eclipse. All that remained was the tail of course, and what looked like a giant bloody spine. Shadow cringed slightly at the sight but began charging up another Chaos Spear.

Just then, the bloody mess that was called Eclipse started to glow as the entire colossal body of the monster reformed in less than a second.

Shadow gritted his teeth. 'This is getting ridiculous, he keeps reforming!'

The battle had taken its toll on Eclipse too, however. He was breathing very raggedly and buckets of sweat drenched his fur. Recovering so many times, although it didn't seem like it, was hard work in itself.

Shadow was about to launch his now charged attack when something caught his attention. He looked down to see all the pieces of the ground that Eclipse had ripped out of the ground falling out of the sky and back down to the ground.

Shadow's eyes widened. "Rouge and the others!"

With the Others

The entire group could felt heir small piece of solitary land begin to rumble.

"W-What's going on?" A bewildered Amy asked.

Sonic, who had recovered a little, looked at her. "Eclipse must not have the energy to hold these in place anymore."

"That means we're gonna fall!" Amy practically yelled.

Sonic smirked. "Not if I can help it!"

Sonic suddenly stood upright and raised both his arms into the air. The Master Emerald, which had regained its power, floated over to him. Sonic placed his hands on the top of the emerald and closed his eyes.

The Master Emerald started glowing as the small island stopped rocking. Sonic opened his eyes and sat back down. He faced Amy and Rouge. "Sometimes it's good to listen to Knuckles."

With Shadow

Shadow smiled when he saw what Sonic had done. He looked back at Eclipse who was now facing him with a angry look.

Shadow smirked. "Finally decided to give it your all huh?"

Eclipse cracked his neck several times before responding. "YEAH, SINCE I WAS USING A FOURTH OF MY ENERGY TO HOLD THESE THINGS UP, I DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO LET 'EM GO."

Shadow's eyes widened. "A fourth of your energy?"

Eclipse laughed. "OF COURSE YOU DIDN'T THINK THAT WHAT YOU SAW WAS THE LIMIT TO MY POWER?"

Shadow backed up slightly. "No way…"

Eclipse laughed again. "OH SHADOW, WHERE DID THAT WILL TO FIGHT GO? I KNEW YOU WERE NOTHING BUT A COWARD!"

Shadow, even though insulted, kept from responding. In a flash, Eclipse was right in front of Shadow and kicked him right in the face. The ice blue hedgehog was sent flying back and miraculously, crashed on the only small piece of land left.

Shadow's impact was harder than before, as he turned back into his normal form the second he touched the ground.

Rouge, Amy, Sonic, Knuckles, and the now conscious Amber all ran over to him. Knuckles and Rouge helped him up by the shoulders while Rouge and Amber supported his back.

"Are you alright Shadow?" Amber asked concerned.

Shadow looked at her weakly. "Yeah…I'm alright."

"HOW TOUCHING! I HAVE YOU ALL IN ONE SPOT. THIS WILL BE SO MUCH EASIER!"

The group, much to Shadow's displeasure, whirled around to see the giant Eclipse hovering near them, his giant wings softly flapping.

Shadow pushed all of his companions away. "Leave them out of this Eclipse!"

Eclipse shook one of his clawed fingers. "WHY SHOULD I? I LOVE WATCHING YOU SUFFER! AND I KNOW JUST THE WAY TO GET TO YOU SHADOW!" He said while smirking and looking at Rouge.

Shadow followed his gaze and saw he was looking at Rouge. "No…" Shadow immediately tried to dash for Rouge to protect her when Eclipse beat him to her. Rouge didn't even have time to scream as Eclipse lifted her with his left claw and elevated himself far enough so the rest didn't reach him.

Shadow looked totally despaired and Eclipse loved every second of it. Shadow watched in horror as Eclipse held Rouge in his tight grip. 'No! It can't be!' Shadow thought. It was all just like his nightmare.

"THIS IS WHY YOU WILL NEVER BE A TRUE ULTIMATE LIFE FORM SHADOW" Eclipse bellowed at the horrified Shadow. With these words, the beast took one of his claws and stuck it forcefully into the white bat's stomach.

Blood erupted from the wound as well as the bat's mouth as Shadow watched on in horror. The beast let go off the bat with a smirk plastered on his face. A primal scream echoed through the sky. Shadow then realized that it was his own. "ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUGE!"


	17. The Ultimate Power

Chapter 17

Rouge landed on the ground with a heavy thud as the entire group was silent. Blood continued to pour out of the bat's stomach as she lay completely motionless. Amy, Amber, Sonic, and Knuckles all immediately ran over to her to check while the dark hedgehog known by the name of Shadow just stood there with his red eyes wide in disbelief and his right hand outstretched.

Amy took a knee in front of her fallen friend and rolled Rouge over on her back to look at her face. The bat's eyes were closed and dry blood mixed with sweat and tears covered her face. The normal rising and falling of the stomach had ceased and it was easy to reach the inevitable conclusion.

Everyone else waited in anticipation as a few tears trickled down Amber's cheek. Finally, Amy turned to the rest of the group and whispered almost silently. "She's dead…"

Even though a good few yards away, Shadow's sensitive ears picked up the pink hedgehog's words. He slowly lowered his right hand down to his side as he clenched both of his fists. A dull white energy started to surround the black hedgehog. Shadow's eyes widened in anger and sorrow.

Amy and the others, who were by now weeping for their fallen friend, felt a strange gust of wind. They all looked back to see Shadow standing there, his fists were clenched and a white energy surrounded him.

Eclipse smirked while observing Shadow. "HMM, I WONDER WHAT HE'S GONNA DO NOW? NOW THAT I PUT THAT BAT OUT OF COMISSION!"

The dull white energy surrounding Shadow burst to a much brighter tone as the unnatural wind around him also picked up. The dark hedgehog had already closed his eyes and his face was contorted.

Amber, though frightened at this sudden phenomenon, stepped forth. "Shadow?" She asked quietly.

Suddenly, Shadow's eyes shot wide open to reveal his pupils completely gone. Amy put her hand over her mouth and gasped. "What's…happening to him?"

Shadow's body tensed up even more as the energy surrounding him got brighter and brighter. His eyes were still pupil-less and he was now facing the ground. His lips were curved up to reveal his bared white teeth. The dark hedgehog's head seemed to be shaking slightly.

Amber took another step towards her brother. "Shadow?" Still, no response. "Shadow please!" Once again, Shadow was silent. "ANSWER ME!" Amber yelled.

Mimicking a machine, Shadow's head shot up as his completely white eyes seemed focused on her. Amber took a step back but stopped retreating when she heard Shadow's voice.

"Rouge…"

Amber looked back at the dead bat behind her. All of a sudden, there was a bright burst of light as Amber looked back towards her brother. Even in his original state, he was hovering slightly as he brought his arms to his sides, fists still clenched. He looked to be in some what of a power up position.

"Shadow?" Sonic asked.

"ROOOOOUUUUUUGE!" Then, another flash of light blinded the group. Everyone's hands shot up out of instinct. Through their split fingers now covering their eyes however, they witnessed everything.

In the blinding light, Shadow's black quills started to waver and stand on end. The black hedgehog closed his eyes again to hide their pupil-less state. Finally, something inside of Shadow sparked as he felt his true power, his true form, being released.

Then, in less than a second, Shadow threw his entire body back. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Shadow's fur erupted to a pure, beautiful white as the light subsided. His crimson streaks also disappeared with his black fur, leaving the hedgehog completely white. The blinding explosion of light subsided, as everyone, minus Eclipse, lowered their hands.

Shadow floated barely above the ground with what looked like a huge white flame surrounding him. Many white sparks of pure energy danced around his body. Slowly, the hedgehog opened his eyes to reveal the pupils that inhabited them were back, only they were now a shinning golden.

Everyone's mouth hung wide open. Swallowing a lump in his throat, Sonic spoke first. "Is that you Shadow?"

The white hedgehog turned to face him, but did not respond. Slowly, the now snow white hedgehog landed on the ground with a soft thud and proceeded over to the group. Everyone was on their feet by now and standing in front of Rouge's lifeless body.

The hedgehog stopped right before the group. He slowly raised his head and gave them all a cold stare. Sensing the hedgehog's seriousness, the entire group moved to the side as Shadow proceeded to walk again.

Shadow slowly approached Rouge and took a knee in front of her. As soon as his knee touched the ground, more energy sparks danced across his body. Shadow slowly lifted his hand and placed it on the bat's forehead.

Shadow concentrated his energy for a second as a bright white light shone from the palm of his hand and onto Rouge. Shadow's entire body began to flare up with energy as more and more of the mystical light was transferred to the bat.

The enormous form of Eclipse, along with the others looked on in great curiosity. "WHAT IS HE DOING?"

Rouge's entire body was now glowing, as was Shadow's. Slowly, the wound in the bat's stomach and the dried blood around her mouth all disappeared. Shadow kept transferring his energy to her and finally stopped as Rouge's body stopped glowing, along with his.

Shadow stood back up and looked down upon Rouge. Slowly, the bat's body began to twitch slightly, but enough for everyone to see. Amy let out a gasp. "No way…"

Eclipse unfolded his arms and stared in shock. "IT CAN'T BE!"

But sure enough, the bat's eyes slowly began to open. Her emerald green eyes looked glazed over at first but soon regained their natural sparkle as Rouge focused on the figure in front of her. "Shadow?" She slightly murmured, barely opening her dry lips.

And for the first time since his transformation, Shadow smiled. "Yes Rouge, it's me."

Rouge smiled slightly and tried moving her body. However, soon after the attempt at movement, a searing pain shot through her body as she let out a gasp. Shadow took a knee in front of her again. "Be still," He coaxed. "You're still hurt. Dying, after all, is very painful."

Even in her weak state, Rouge managed to scream. "DYING?"

Shadow nodded slightly. "Don't worry…It wasn't your time."

Rouge tilted her head slightly. "Then…how…did I…get back?"

The snow white hedgehog turned away slightly. "I'll tell you later, but right now I have some matters to attend to."

Rouge nodded weakly as Shadow stood back up. But before he could leave, Rouge spoke again, for the first time noticing Shadow's new appearance. "Shadow, what happened to you?"

Shadow turned to her and smiled. "You happened."

Rouge looked confused. "What?"

"It's because of you that I look like this, Omega was right." And with that said, Shadow walked back towards the rest of the group.

He turned to face Amy and Amber. "You two take care of her. I'll finish this once and for all."

Amy and Amber nodded but before Shadow could leave, Sonic put a hand on his shoulder. Shadow looked over his back to see Sonic wearing a toothy smirk on his face. "Kick his ass."

Shadow smirked as Sonic removed his hand. "You bet."

Shadow shot off and was right before Eclipse in less than a second. Eclipse spoke first. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO THE BAT?"

Shadow did not respond, but only glared at him.

Eclipse continued. "WELL, I SUPPOSE WE HAVE TO FIND OUT LAT"- Eclipse cut himself off as he realized _exactly_ what Shadow had done.

The monster threw his head back and laughed hysterically. "AND HERE I THOUGHT YOU COULDN'T GET ANY DUMBER! YOU TRULY ARE A FOOL SHADOW! BUT I DO LIKE THAT YOUR FUR IS SO WHITE NOW!"

Once again, the hedgehog didn't respond, but only glared. Eclipse spoke again, setting aside his last comment. "SEE, KLLING YOU WHEN YOUR FUR IS SO WHITE WILL MAKE IT MORE ENJOYABLE TO WATCH WHEN ALL YOUR BLOOD OOZES FROM YOUR BODY."

Finally, Shadow spoke. "I wouldn't be so confident if I were you Eclipse. Because now, the tables have turned. Now, I am in control.

"IS THAT SO?" Eclipse asked sarcastically.

Shadow nodded slightly. "Yes, so now prepare for the final battle, prepare for the ultimate power, prepare for the Mega form!"

Author's Note- I have gotten numerous requests from different authors asking if they could use the attacks I created. For all of you out there that would like to use any of the attacks, characters, or weapons(see profile) that I have created, go right ahead. I would be honored if you used my creations in your story. Please be sure though, that you give me full credit for the things I created. I know that I sort of cornered the Fiction Attacks market so I feel obliged to allow you to use my attacks. Thank you all to my readers. Next chapter will be up soon.


	18. The Final Battle Part 1

Chapter 18

The now fully transformed Mega hedgehog know by the name of Shadow charged for his evil brother. Swiftly, the white hedgehog rammed his elbow into Eclipse's stomach before the monster even had time to blink. The hit was much stronger than it looked as Eclipse coughed up a small amount of blood.

Quickly retaliating, Eclipse wildly swung his own fist at Shadow. Shadow caught it with ease and twisted his arm into an abnormal shape. The beast let out a cry of pain as Shadow let go of the arm and punched the monster in front of him right in the jaw. A sickening crack echoed through the air as Eclipse's jaw broke from the impact.

Eclipse released another howl of pain as Shadow smirked. Acting quickly, Shadow charged up an abnormally large white Chaos Spear in his right hand. Bellowing the name of his attack, the Chaos Spear was sent directly towards Eclipse and hit its mark, leaving a bloody black mark.

Eclipse's eyes widened as blood seeped out of his wound. The monster soon focused back on Shadow and started glowing silver. Before he could regenerate however, Shadow launched another attack. "CHAOS BARRAGE!" Shadow yelled as hundreds of large white chaos bolts flew from his hands and straight for Eclipse.

The monster barely dodged the first few but was soon overwhelmed by the sheer number and ferocity of the attack. Shadow continued his onslaught for at least a couple of minutes, not even breaking a sweat, before the blasts of Chaos energy dwindled and the attack subsided.

Through the smoke, the damaged form of Eclipse slowly wavered in the sky. The bloody mass soon reformed as Eclipse was back to his original self. The monster growled slightly before charging for Shadow again.

Before the attack however, Eclipse quickly warped behind Shadow and attempted a kick to the head. The hedgehog ducked at lighting fast speeds and turned around, delivering his fist into Eclipse's stomach.

The monster coughed up some blood but swung his tail at Shadow. The white hedgehog simply warped out of the way and fired a Chaos Spear right into Eclipse's eyes. The monster howled in pain as he clutched his damaged eyes.

Shadow used the opportunity and charged up two violet energy balls, one in each hand. "CHAOS NIGHTMARE!" Shadow shouted before throwing the one in his left hand at Eclipse first. Less that a second later, Shadow launched the second Chaos Nightmare.

The first ball of energy hit Eclipse directly in the stomach, causing him to reel over in pain. The second hit him directly in the head, causing it to snap backwards. Shadow quickly charged again and dug his right elbow right into Eclipse's throat.

The beast began to chock and Shadow fired released another Chaos Blast, sending Eclipse flying away. The monster soon retaliated and regenerated himself with a silver glow however. Clenching his clawed fists, Eclipse charged for Shadow.

Eclipse continued to advance as Shadow took a defensive stance. The beast's wings were flapping furiously as he gathered a silver energy orb in his right claw. Right before reaching Shadow, Eclipse fired a massive Chaos Sword at point blank range.

Shadow made no move to dodge or block and was hit by the attack. A giant cloud of grey smoke rose from the area of the blast as Eclipse retaliated and smirked. His smirk disappeared however, when the smoke cleared and Shadow was in the same position he was in, totally unharmed.

Eclipse's eyes widened as Shadow smirked. With a loud boom, Shadow charged for Eclipse. The monstrous hedgehog was too stunned to realize what was happening and got hit by a powerful punch, courtesy of Shadow.

The monster's back arched as Shadow delivered a round house kick to his stomach. Eclipse's position reversed as he bent over in pain. Shadow grabbed the hedgehog's fur on his giant head with his left hand and gathered a Chaos attack in his right.

"CHAOS SPEAR!" Shadow shouted as the attack was released, throwing the monster back and literally scorching the fur from his head. Shadow didn't stop there though, as his body began to glow dark red.

"Chaos Blast!" Shadow bellowed as the giant wave of Chaos energy hit its mark and sent the evil hedgehog packing. The bright light subsided as Shadow charged after his un-recovered brother.

Reeling his fist back into an arch form, Shadow brought it down with massive momentum and strength. Eclipse choked in pain and flew downwards. Shadow followed again and sped beneath his falling brother.

Lifting his right leg back, Shadow began gathering strength as Eclipse came closer and closer. When the monster was close enough, Shadow released all the built-up strength in his leg and sent Eclipse flying up at incredible velocity.

Shadow then warped above his brother's estimated position and brought his left fist down upon Eclipse's back. But before the monster could go flying again, Shadow grabbed him by the tail and began charging up a violet energy orb.

"CHAOS NIGHTMARE!" Shadow shouted as the attack was released, totally bloodying up Eclipse's lower body. Suddenly, Eclipse's tail wiggled free as the monster brought himself to a vertical base.

"YOU'RE…GONNA…REGRET…THAT!" Eclipse managed to threaten between breaths.

Shadow continued to glare while speaking. "You sealed your own fate by doing what you did Eclipse."

Eclipse laughed. "ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT KILLING THE BAT? WELL SHADOW, I KNOW YOU HAD A SOFT SPOT FOR HER AND ALL BUT I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD PUSH YOU THIS FAR!"

Shadow's glare increased. "You pushed m powers beyond their limits Eclipse, and now, you have to feel that power."

Eclipse growled and charged at Shadow.

Eclipse came at Shadow with a basic straight punch as Shadow moved to the side to avoid it. With lighting fast speed, Shadow dug his right knee into Eclipse's stomach. The monster's facial expression turned to one where it would look like he could throw up any moment.

While Eclipse was reeling over in pain, Shadow began gathering energy for another attack. Two white energy orbs surrounded his fists as he powered up his attack. Then, matching the speed of sound, Shadow hammered away with his fists after shouting: "CHAOS FURY!"

Each impact was precise and did the maximum amount of damage to the already injured Eclipse. Each impact left a bloody dent in whatever place the orb touched as Shadow continued ruthlessly and with the heart of a professional assassin, showing no remorse.

Finally, the pounding of the powered up fists ceased as Shadow floated back a little to finish the attack. Stretching both of his arms to their full length in front of him, the two orbs hit their mark and triggered a primal scream from Eclipse and a large cloud of smoke.

When it cleared, the winged beast was severely bruised. Although nothing had actually created a hole or such, large bloody and gruesome marks dotted his body. Instead of recovering however, Eclipse began to charge up for an attack of his own.

A large silver orb formed within his right claw. "TAKE THIS SHADOW! CHAOS BOMB!" Eclipse yelled as the attack was launched. The giant orb flew straight at the white hedgehog who did not give any signs to dodge or block.

Then, right before impact, Shadow raised his right hand and swatted the Chaos Bomb away with the back of his glove-less hand, making it seem as being nothing more than a fly. Eclipse's eyes widened in disbelief. Shadow smirked and charged for Eclipse again.

With deadly accuracy, Shadow hit Eclipse directly in his giant throat with an open hand chop. The monster gagged for a moment and that gave Shadow the chance to summon another Chaos attack.

Shadow's body began to glow in the form of a Chaos Blast. His body's aura, which was usually red however, was now pure white. "CHAOS BLAST!" Shadow yelled as the attack was released.

Eclipse was hit with full force and flew away from the attack at blazing speeds. Shadow quickly tensed his body up and followed. The beast didn't even have time to lift his head as a Chaos Spear was sent directly towards his stomach. The monster gasped in pain but soon mustered the strength to stop flying uncontrollably.

Eclipse lifted his head and jumped a little when he saw Shadow right in front of him, a scowl on his face. Shadow smirked at Eclipse's surprised look and swiftly delivered another punch straight to the gut.

The monster's face contorted as he bent over out of pain. Shadow, once again charged up an attack. A giant white energy orb formed within his left hand. "Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted, releasing the attack. The assault hit dead-on and winded the already bewildered Eclipse since it hit him directly where his lungs are.

Shadow then quickly teleported behind Eclipse and took a hold of his tail with his right hand. Effortlessly, Shadow began to swing around and around, faster, and faster, making the two seem like a white tornado. Finally, Shadow released his brother as Eclipse was sent flying high into the air.

Shadow quickly followed while charging up another Chaos attack. He clenched his fists together as a white orb surrounded each of them. Then, Shadow quickly warped above Eclipse and put his two balled fists together, with the two orbs forming into one giant one.

When Eclipse's body was centimeters away, Shadow swung his closed fists directly at his back. The attack made impact with a loud boom as Eclipse was sent flying down at blazing speeds.

The two orbs around Shadow fists disappeared as Shadow followed nose first.

With the Others

The entire group jumped up in surprise when they felt a strong gust of wind. Rouge looked up in the sky to see the monstrous Eclipse flying towards her with his eyes closed and his body pointed down.

The bat's first instinct was to move out of the way but as soon as Eclipse came closer, he harmlessly passed at the sides. The group let out a sigh of relief when they spotted a white streak headed towards them.

With another gust of strong gale force winds, Shadow passed as the entire group rooted him on.

With Shadow

Shadow continued through the clouds, following his seemingly unconscious brother. By now, Shadow once again felt the cold rain and strong winds of the storm as Eclipse crashed into a local park, breaking concrete, benches, and trees.

Shadow stopped and hovered over his brother, crossing his arms. He knew that wasn't enough to take Eclipse down. Slowly, the monster began to stir and opened his huge eyes. Weakly, the beast pushed himself off the ground and stood to his full colossal height, which rivaled even the tallest buildings in Station Square.

Eclipse smirked when he saw Shadow in front of him. "WELL SHADOW, I HAVE TO SAY YOUR MEGA FORM SURE DOES PACK A PUNCH."

Shadow scoffed. "Yeah, I told you it's over."

Eclipse smiled evilly. "OH BUT SHADOW, OF COURSE YOU DON'T THINK THIS IS MY FULL POWER, DO YOU?"

Shadow's jaw dropped as his eyes widened in disbelief. "No…"

Eclipse closed his eyes for a moment but reopened them. "WELL, FROM YOUR REACTION, I GUESS THAT IS WHAT YOU THOUGHT. I HAVE ONLY BEEN USING FIFTY PERCENT OF MY POWER AGAINST YOU SHADOW. OF COURSE, I HAD TO USE ONE HUNDRED PERCENT WHEN FIGHTING AMBER SINCE SHE ALSO ATTAINED HER CHAOS FORM. SADLY ENOUGH, SHE WAISTED HER POWER STOPPING MY CHAOS METEOR."

Shadow gulped slightly but spoke. "Why did you only use half of your strength?"

Eclipse laughed. "BECAUSE SHADOW, I THOUGHT IT WAS ENOUGH TO HANDLE YOU. BUT SINCE YOU TRANSFORMED AND ALL, IT BECAME CLEAR TO ME THAT I HAD TO GO ALL-OUT!"

Shadow smirked. "Well then, let's go!"

Eclipse laughed again. "SO EAGER TO DIE SHADOW? OH WELL, I WAS HOPING TO HAVE MORE FUN WITH YOU BUT NOW IT SEEMS THAT THIS HAS GOT TO COME TO AN END."

Eclipse's body tensed as he took a power-up stance. A dark aura surrounded him as black energy sparks danced around his body. Through gritted teeth, Eclipse spoke, while the dark aura got larger and larger. "SEVENT-FIVE PERCENT, NINETY, ONE HUNDRED PERCENT!" Eclipse finally bellowed as the dark aura exploded into a giant flame of energy.

Shadow covered his eyes momentarily but soon lowered them to see Eclipse's appearance. His fur was now completely silver, his claws had sharpened considerably, and the white of his eyes were now completely bloodshot. A huge dark flame of energy surrounded him as dark energy sparks dotted his body.

Eclipse threw his head back and laughed. "NOW SHADOW, WITNESS TRUE POWER!"


	19. The Final Battle Part 2

Chapter 19

With one powerful burst of black light, Eclipse charged for Shadow, crumbling the earth and concrete beneath him. Shadow's body tensed up as a white flame of energy surrounded him. Both ultimates clashed as their two energy barriers negated each other and disappeared.

With lighting fast speeds, both Shadow and Eclipse threw punch after punch, and kick after kick. Then, simultaneously, both hedgehogs warped to another area of the park. Trees and statues fell as both warriors continued their assaults towards each other.

Shadow swiftly delivered a couple of punches to Eclipse's stomach. The beast grimaced in pain a little but shot his own fist at Shadow's face, who was hit head on. Shadow soon recovered and attempted a round house kick. The colossal Eclipse ducked his huge head out of the way and lashed his tail across Shadow's face.

The dark hedgehog's face snapped to the side as Eclipse kicked him in the stomach again. Shadow bent over slightly but recovered and threw his own fist at Eclipse. The monster was hit and spat up a little blood.

Shadow then sensed a familiar energy as Eclipse prepared to warp. At the exact second of the warp, Shadow also warped and reappeared in the exact same position as his brother. Taking advantage of the second of peace, Shadow reeled back and delivered a devastating punch to Eclipse's stomach.

The winged hedgehog bent over in pain slightly but recovered and sent a kick towards Shadow who moved his body to the right, and out of the way of the attack. Shadow countered Eclipse's maneuver with a straight punch to the stomach, which hit its mark. Eclipse's face contorted slightly.

Shadow then once again felt a strange energy as Eclipse warped away. Shadow was right behind him, also warping. Both reappeared over a large abandoned skyscraper and Shadow, not wasting a second, kicked Eclipse straight in the jaw. A thin line of blood ran from the corner of his lips but Eclipse retaliated with a whip of his tail.

Shadow was smacked right across the face and stumbled back slightly. Eclipse used this opportunity and charged up an attack. His entire body began to glow an unnatural silver. "CHAOS INFERNO!" Eclipse shouted as the giant silver explosion was released.

The building beneath was enveloped by the attack and crumbled into a pile of metal and concrete as Shadow was sent flying back. Before Shadow could recover from his unintentional flight, Eclipse warped over to him and took his head in his right claw.

Shadow struggled against his grip but it was too strong. Eclipse smirked. "NOW SHADOW, LET ME UNLOCK YOUR TRUE POWER!"

A black light began to radiate off the arm that Eclipse was holding Shadow in. Within a second, the light transferred to Shadow's body as a loud zapping sound was heard.

Eclipse then released the Mega hedgehog who looked confused, not being harmed at all by the attack. "What the hell was that?" Shadow asked.

Eclipse smirked again. "ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW IS THAT NEXT TIME YOU HAVE SUCH AN EMOTIONAL OUTBURST, YOU HAD BETTER BE IN A SECLUDED AREA."

Shadow tilted his head slightly but had to time to ponder at the statement as Eclipse charged again.

The giant beast came at his smaller brother with an all body punch, lurching his entire form forwards to strengthen the punch. Shadow swiftly moved out of the way and dug his knee into Eclipse's stomach. The monster's eyes widened a little but he recovered and sent a round house kick towards Shadow.

The white hedgehog was hit head on and was sent flying backwards. Eclipse charged for Shadow at amazing speeds and swung his leg into Shadow's back, sending the hedgehog flying upwards.

Eclipse charged again and dug his knee into Shadow's back, sending him flying at higher velocities. Shadow had his eyes closed slightly as he was sent hurtling through the turbulent clouds with Eclipse following close behind.

With a puff of the clouds, both hedgehogs re-entered their previous battle arena, with the rest of the group watching intently.

With the Group

The now fully recovered Rouge the Bat stood up to her full height when she saw Shadow and Eclipse bursting through the clouds. The others followed suite and also stood.

Rouge was praying silently in her mind for the hedgehog that had saved him from death. 'Come on Shadow!'

With Shadow

Shadow swiftly charged for his evil brother with his fists by his sides, which were glowing a fierce white. Eclipse took a defensive stance to block to oncoming assault. But right before impact, Shadow shouted a different phrase from the one Eclipse expected.

"Chaos Control!" Shadow shouted as he disappeared. Eclipse looked around slightly before he felt a massive pain all over his body. The monster managed to look down to see almost every part of his body being damaged by some unseen force. Eclipse realized that Shadow was using the Chaos Fury while in Chaos Control.

Through the brutal assault, Eclipse managed to summon a maneuver of his own. "CHAOS CONTROL!" Eclipse shouted as he also disappeared.

Inside the now bizarre multi-colored realm of Chaos Control, Eclipse and Shadow's body were both a strange violet and blue. Shadow still had the Chaos Fury attack charged up and launched both energy orbs at Eclipse.

The monster ducked out of the way of the attack and charged for Shadow. With extreme speeds, even in the Chaos Control realm, Eclipse elbowed Shadow right in the gut. The white hedgehog bent over slightly but soon recovered.

Shadow then threw his own fist towards Eclipse who caught it in his own clawed hand. With lighting fast speed, Eclipse head butted his brother in the face, causing Shadow's nose to bleed slightly. The dark hedgehog recovered and threw an array of punches towards Eclipse, some who hit their mark, and some who were blocked. Eclipse did the same as they engaged in lighting fast combat.

With the Group

The entire group of heroes was stunned by the on-going phenomenon. Neither combatant could be seen but the impact of their punches could certainly be heard as multiple booms echoed through the sky.

Everyone was completely wide-eyed. "How in the world are they fighting within the Chaos Control?" Sonic asked dumbfounded.

Knuckles turned to him. "I guess since they both used it near the same time and space, they were both enveloped within the same Chaos Control."

Sonic sighed a little out of realization and looked back up, trying to spot the seemingly invisible battle.

With Shadow

Moving out of their speed battle, Shadow came at his brother with a lighting fast round house kick that Eclipse blocked with the back of his left arm. With one powerful thrust, the monster pushed Shadow's leg away and delivered a huge fist right into Shadow's stomach, winding the hedgehog slightly.

Shadow recovered and threw his own fist at Eclipse who blocked it with his arm. Shadow growled slightly and attempted another round house kick. This time it hit its mark as it sent Eclipse's body to the left slightly.

Shadow took the opportunity at hand and began charging up a Chaos attack. A white ball of energy formed within his hands, almost as big as Shadow himself. "Chaos Nightmare!" Shadow yelled as the attack was released towards the un-recovered Eclipse.

The monster was caught off guard by the attack and hit head on. Eclipse flew back at incredible speeds as he looked like he flew through a large piece of glass. A part of the violet and blue realm of Chaos Control seemed to break as Eclipse flew out of it, with Shadow following.

Everything was now back in regular colors as Shadow and Eclipse could plainly see. Shadow wasted no time and dove right for Eclipse, digging his head into the monster's stomach. Eclipse let out a huge puff of air as he bent over in pain.

With the Group

The rest of the on looking group easily spotted the two fighters that seemingly exited out of Chaos Control to fight back in front of their own eyes.

Cheering could be heard from everyone as Shadow landed another blow straight into Eclipse's stomach.

With Shadow

Taking advantage of Eclipse's position, Shadow brought both of his hands together and dug them into Eclipse's huge arched back, right between the wings. A loud crack echoed through the air as the beast let out a gasp of pain. However, he had not moved from his position.

Shadow smirked as he charged up another attack. His curled fists began to glow as he summoned upon a Chaos Fury. Then, without showing any signs of mercy, Shadow pounded away at Eclipse's unprotected back.

With each blow dealt, Eclipse's body sunk lower and lower in the sky. Huge black and red wounds were spread across his back as Shadow backed away and fired both orbs at Eclipse. The attack made impact with a loud explosion and a cloud of smoke.

The smoke cleared with a gust of air, showing Eclipse's inner back totally exposed. Most of his white bloody back and rib bones were gruesomely sticking out of his body.

With the Group

Amy put a hand over her mouth when she saw Eclipse's state. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

The rest of the group paid no attention to her and continued to watch the on going battle.

With Shadow

Shadow smirked slightly as he crossed hiss arms. Less than a second later, Eclipse's body glowed silver as the wounds vanished. The monstrous hedgehog turned to Shadow, sweating and breathing heavily.

Shadow uncrossed his arms. 'Good, I'm tiring him out.'

Eclipse shook his head slightly as if to clear out a bad thought and charged for Shadow. The dark hedgehog took a defensive stance but before impact, Eclipse disappeared. Shadow looked around slightly but soon figured out his brother's position when he caught the faint glow of a Chaos attack.

Shadow looked up to see Eclipse hovering about four hundred feet above him with a large energy orb in hand, ten times the size of himself.

Eclipse laughed evilly. "LET'S SEE YOU STOP THIS NOW THAT YOU DON'T HAVE AMBER TO HELP YOU!"

Shadow smirked. "Go ahead, launch it." He said confidently.

With the Group

Sonic's eyes widened when he heard Shadow. "IS HE CRAZY?" Sonic screamed.

Knuckles looked at the sea blue hedgehog next to him reassuringly. "Don't worry, Shadow will handle it."

Amber looked at him worried. "No, I have to help him!" Amber said and was a bout to transform when Knuckles stopped her.

"No Amber," He said firmly. "Shadow can handle this by himself."

Rouge, who had listened in to the conversation, looked back up at the sky. 'I hope so…'

With Shadow

Eclipse's face contorted with anger when he heard Shadow's sly remark. "VERY WELL SHADOW! CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS MEEEEEEEETEEEOOOOOR!" Eclipse shouted as he released the giant attack.

Shadow had not made any move to block or evade as he looked on the oncoming attack, smirking confidently.

The light of the silver energy attack almost enveloped the smaller white hedgehog. With the attack being less than ten feet away, Shadow reeled back his right leg. The attack continued and was one foot away when Shadow swung his leg straight up and into the attack.

There was a loud sizzling sound as everything seemed to freeze. Then, without warning, the Chaos Meteor flew upwards at speeds unheard of.

Eclipse's eyes widened in shock. "IMPOSSIBLE!"

With the Group

Everyone stood completely still when they saw what just happened. Almost nonchalantly, Shadow sent the most devastating of Eclipse's attacks away with ease. No one said anything, they just looked on wide-eyed.

With Shadow

Eclipse was still frozen with shock when Shadow warped right in front of him. Slowly, Eclipse raised his head at Shadow, who had a scowl on his face.

"HOW?" Eclipse muttered.

Shadow clenched both of his fists. "I told you before Eclipse, it's over! You can't beat me! You've sealed your own fate!"

Eclipse smirked. "IS THAT SO? WELL THEN, WE'LL JUST HAVE TO KEEP GOING TO SEE IF YOU WERE RIGHT OR WRONG WON'T WE?"

With those words bellowed, Eclipse charged for Shadow once again.


	20. Sayonara, Eclipse the Hedgehog

Author's Note- Here it is, the final chapter of The True Ultimate!

Chapter 20

Eclipse lunged wildly at Shadow as the white hedgehog dodged with ease. Eclipse soon retaliated and delivered a punch straight to Shadow's stomach. The white hedgehog grimaced in pain a little but threw his own fist at Eclipse.

The monstrous beast was hit by the attack and floated back a little. Eclipse raised his head up and wiped some blood off the corner of his lip with the back of his left claw while growling slightly. Eclipse charged once again, but this time he was charging up a Chaos attack in his right claw, which was drawn back.

Shadow took a defensive stance and also charged up an attack in his right hand. His exposed black fur in his hand bristled by the energy of the attack as a small orb formed within it. Eclipse continued to advance and shot his attack a good ten feet before Shadow. "CHAOS SWORD!"

The silver blast of energy was released and flew towards the Mega hedgehog. "Chaos Spear!" Shadow shouted as an attack with equal power was released from his hand.

Both attacks met with a loud explosion as Shadow and Eclipse charged at each other through the smoke of the attack. Shadow reeled back his right fist into a hook shape as he prepared a devastating blow to Eclipse. Eclipse mirrored Shadow and did the same.

Before impact however, Shadow quickly warped to the right and fired a Chaos Spear at Eclipse. The monster was prepared and also warped away, reappearing behind Shadow. "CHAOS BOMB!" Eclipse shouted as a huge energy orb flew from his claw and towards Shadow.

The dark hedgehog managed to warp away in time and reappeared over Eclipse with a giant white energy orb in hand. "Chaos Nightmare!" Shadow shouted as he launched the attack at Eclipse down below.

Eclipse looked up in time and warped away with a black flash, reappearing on Shadow's left. He began charging up an attack of his own as his body glowed silver. "CHAOS INFERNO!" Eclipse shouted as the devastating short range attack was released.

Shadow quickly warped out of the way of the attack and reappeared a safe fifty feet away. The Chaos Inferno cleared as Shadow charged again. Eclipse took a defensive stance as Shadow continued his charge, with his hands glowing bright white.

With the Group

Sonic jumped up when he saw Shadow's glowing fists. "Look guys, he's about to use Chaos Barrage!" Sonic shouted in excitement.

Rouge, Amy, Amber, and Knuckles squinted their eyes to se Shadow's hands indeed glowing white.

"Yes!" Rouge shouted in excitement. "That'll take him down!"

Sonic looked at her. "Let's hope so…"

With Shadow

When Eclipse was within grabbing distance, Shadow threw both of his glowing fists in front of him while shouting: "Chaos Barrage!"

Eclipse smirked through the light as the hundreds of small energy blasts were released. The attack created a huge cloud of smoke that grew with each blast fired. After about thirty seconds, Shadow's attack dwindled as he lowered his hands.

The smoke slowly cleared to reveal nothing. Shadow's eyes widened. "Did I destroy him?"

A maniacal laugh filled the air as Shadow looked up just in time to see Eclipse coming down upon him with his fists together in a ball. "AFRAID NOT!" Eclipse shouted as he brought both fists down on the back of Shadow's head.

Shadow's golden pupils shrank as spit flew out of his mouth. Then, with a burst of air, Shadow was sent spiraling downwards as incredible speed.

With the Group

Rouge shrieked when she saw Shadow get hit. "No! Shadow!" She screamed.

Sonic's eyes widened. "Shadow!"

With Shadow

Shadow continued spiraling down towards the earth below when he started spinning horizontally, stopping his descent. Shadow looked up at Eclipse with anger and hate in his eyes while whipping away some blood from his mouth. Then, with a burst of air, Shadow charged back up.

With the Group

The entire group let out a sigh of relief when they saw Shadow's retaliation.

Rouge sighed extra heavily. 'Thank goodness…"

With Shadow

With blazing speeds, Shadow dug his right elbow into Eclipse's stomach, causing the monster to spit up some blood. Shadow smirked as he delivered a round house kick right into Eclipse's jaw.

The monster grunted from the impact as Shadow charged up another attack, one which included his body glowing a ferocious white. "Chaos Blast!" Shadow yelled as the huge white explosion enveloped him and Eclipse.

The attack cleared as Shadow stood there unharmed. Eclipse however, was a different story. His entire lower body, including his tail, and his left arm had been completely blown off. Eclipse screamed in agony but his cries soon stopped when he reformed with a bright silver light. Eclipse had not completely reformed however. His body was still bruised slightly and there were bloody dents and scratched across his giant form.

Shadow smirked and charged for Eclipse again. With great agility, Shadow planted a straight kick right into Eclipse's chest. This attack knocked the breath right out of him as Shadow swung a hooked arm at Eclipse.

The monster reacted in time and quickly warped out of the way, reappearing right behind Shadow. Before the Mega hedgehog could react, Eclipse's tail lashed out and firmly wrapped itself around Shadow's neck.

Shadow's breath left him as the dreaded tail squeezed harder and harder. Eclipse smirked at Shadow's struggle and without warning, began speeding straight down with his tail holding Shadow right behind him.

With the Group

Every single spectator to this battle was knocked down by a strong gust of wind as Eclipse sped right by them and their small haven.

Rouge's eyes widened in fear when she saw Shadow's in Eclipse's grip. Without thinking, she started running towards the edge of the small island. She was about to jump off when a hand grabbed her arm and stopped her.

The bat looked back to discover the owner of the hand to be Sonic. "Let me go!" She said angrily. "Shadow needs my help!"

Sonic only shook his head and pulled the bat back. "No Rouge, you'd only be helping Eclipse."

"If I won't help, who will?" Rouge yelled.

The azure hedgehog was about to answer when a bright golden burst of light blinded everyone. Sonic and Rouge looked on as Super Amber jumped off the island and downwards towards Shadow and Eclipse.

With Shadow

The two fighters had now reentered the windy and stormy sky above Station Square as Shadow continued to be strangled by Eclipse's tail. The ground was almost touchable when suddenly; Eclipse moved his tail in front of him with Shadow's face being the tip of the organic rocket that was speeding towards the ground.

A loud explosion shook the air as Shadow was brought face first into the already damaged ground of the Station Square Park. Eclipse remained unharmed as his tail loosened up and he released Shadow, who now lay completely motionless inside a giant dirt and concrete filled crater.

Eclipse snorted. "I KNOW YOU'RE STILL ALIVE BROTHER! DEAD HEDGEHOGS CANNOT RETAIN A FORM SUCH AS YOURS!"

On cue, Shadow stirred slightly and turned around. His face was completely bloody and dirty. His left eye was completely closed and there was a large amount of blood on and around it.

Eclipse sighed. "WELL SHADOW, THIS IS IT! GOODBYE!" Eclipse said confidently as he released a Chaos Sword.

Before the attack made contact however, a large yellow bolt knocked it away destroying a large empty warehouse, completely destroying it. Eclipse looked to his side and glared when he saw Super Amber.

Eclipse laughed. "AH DEAR SISTER, I'M AFRAID YOUR PRESENCE IS IN VAIN! AS YOU CAN SEE, SHADOW IS DOWN FOR THE COUNT AND YOU WON'T BE MUCH TROUBLE!"

Amber laughed. "Your confidence will be your undoing brother!"

Eclipse snickered and took a defensive stance. Amber charged at Eclipse who skillfully dodged to the side and dug his knee into her stomach. Eclipse was about to deliver a devastating blow with his right fistwhen a white blur snatched her away. Eclipse's fist dug into the ground, creating a small crater. Eclipse brought his body back up to see Shadow floating besides a panting Amber.

Before Eclipse could attack, Shadow looked at Amber, with both of his eyes now open. "Amber, go back to safety!"

Amber shook her head. "No way! I'm helping y"-

"LEAVE!" Shadow shouted.

Amber grunted but obeyed and flew back to the group over the clouds. Shadow looked back at Eclipse. "Let's go!"

Shadow immediately charged for Eclipse with a bright burst of white energy. Eclipse took a defensive stance as Shadow rammed right into him with his elbow, causing the monstrous beast to stumble back.

Eclipse quickly retaliated from the minor attack and threw his own fist at Shadow who quickly warped out of the way. Shadow reappeared behind his brother and tried delivering a round house kick to his head.

Before impact though, Eclipse also warped and appeared above Shadow with a Chaos Sword in hand. Eclipse fired it after bellowing the name of the attack as the silver energy bolt flew directly at Shadow.

The white hedgehog spotted the attack just in time and warped to the side. The Chaos Sword made impact with the Park's ground, destroying almost everything in a huge silver dome of energy.

Shadow darted up and hit Eclipse in the bottom of the jaw with his right elbow, sending the monster flying up through the clouds. The Mega hedgehog quickly followed through the stormy and restless clouds and soon came back to their original battle ground.

Eclipse had already recuperated and dove at Shadow who warped out of the way before impact. Shadow reappeared behind him and swiftly delivered a kick right to Eclipse's stomach.

The monster grimaced in pain slightly as Shadow threw another fist at him. Eclipse quickly warped out of the way and reappeared behind Shadow with a silver orb in hand.

"CHAOS BOMB!" Eclipse shouted as the attack hit Shadow at point blank range. Shadow's eyes widened in pain as he let out a silent scream. Then, with a burst of air, Shadow flew down at lighting fast speeds and hit the small amount of floating land that was within reach.

Shadow hit the ground with a loud thud, stirring up a small cloud of dust, which turned his pure white fur to a darker shade. Almost immediately, the entire group ran over to him as Sonic and Knuckles helped him up.

"You okay Shadow?" Sonic asked.

Shadow merely nodded in response. Suddenly, there was a strong gust of wind as Eclipse made his way down towards the group, smirking.

Sonic let go of Shadow as the entire weight of the hedgehog fell to Knuckles who had to adjust his position a little. Although barely touching Shadow, he could feel a slight sting due to the fact of him being so close to Shadow while in the Mega form. He couldn't even imagine what it must be like to be hit by him while in this form.

Sonic looked back at Shadow. "Listen, I still have some Chaos energy left. "I'll hold him off while you charge up an attack. Do you have one besides the Chaos Nova that could take him down?"

Shadow nodded slightly. "Yeah, but it takes some time to charge up."

Sonic nodded as he started gathering the small amount of Chaos energy he had left from the Chaos Emeralds. His fur blinked to a solid gold as his eyes turned a fierce red.

He was about to take off when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back to see Amy. "Be careful!" She whispered.

Sonic flashed a toothy grin as she let go of him and he took off against Eclipse. With a burst of golden air, Sonic was in front of the diabolical hedgehog.

"SO, IS IT YOUR TURN TO DIE, HERO?" Eclipse asked.

Sonic smirked. "Not quite…" Sonic said with confidence as he charged for Eclipse.

With Shadow

Shadow began to stand to his full height as Knuckles released him from his grip. He tensed his body up as the familiar white flame of energy surrounded him. Then, with a light jump, he lifted off into the air.

Shadow continued to slowly rise in the air and stopped below where Sonic and Eclipse were fighting. Shadow looked up in amazement to see Sonic, even in Super form, holding his own against Eclipse. He looked back down and spotted the small island which was no more than a dot in the sky.

Shadow looked back up. Sonic and Eclipse looked to be fighting at the edge of space! Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a small dark gray dot in space above.

"Ark…" Shadow muttered. Suddenly, he smirked. "Perfect…"

Shadow put both of his damaged hands in front of him as a small white energy orb formed within it. The small orb grew to the size of a baseball with a small flex of Shadow's muscles, and then to the size of a basketball.

With Sonic

The golden hedgehog swiftly dodged another attack by Eclipse as the monster retreated his fist. Then, with speed even to fast for Sonic to detect, Eclipse wrapped his tail around Sonic's neck.

The golden hedgehog's eyes widened as he gasped for breath.

Eclipse laughed. "HA, YOU'RE NO MATCH FOR ME!"

Eclipse's face contorted slightly as he put more pressure on the small creature in his vice grip.

With Shadow

The small attack in Shadow's hands had now grown to the size of a small car. The orb was now too big for Shadow's hands to contain, therefore being located slightly at the end of his outstretched hands.

Shadow's face contorted slightly as the attack continued to grow. 'Just a little more time Sonic and I'll be able to complete the attack.' Shadow thought.

With Sonic

Sonic continued to struggle when suddenly; Eclipse brought his tail back a little. Sonic's heart lifted as he thought Eclipse was going to release him. Instead however, something else happened.

The monstrous hedgehog pulled both of his fists back and started viciously pummeling the hedgehog in his grip. With each impact, small amounts of blood trickled down Sonic's lip as he felt his Chaos powers begin to fade away.

With Shadow

'Damn, I can't get it powered up in time, this is taking too long!' Shadow thought. Then, suddenly, a thought hit him.

Shadow flexed his entire body as a bright light illuminated the area. Shadow's fur blinked to icy blue as the attack in his grew ten times its size. Shadow smirked. "Perfect!"

His fur changed yet again, this time to beautiful silver as the attack once again grew. Shadow grimaced again when his fur blinked to golden as he entered his Super form. The attack he held grew ten times its size again. It was now about the size of a football stadium.

Shadow closed his eyes as his fur blinked back to his original black and red. However, he kept a small amount of energy so he could stay afloat in the sky. The orb flashed with energy as it grew to fifty times its previous size.

"Alright!' Shadow thought. 'It's ready!'

With Sonic

The blue hedgehog began to lose consciousness as Eclipse stopped the pummeling. The monster smirked at the hedgehog's pain when suddenly; a bright white light illuminated the side of his face.

The monster switched its gaze down below to see a giant energy orb, bigger than his Chaos Meteor, being held by Shadow. The monster's eyes widened as he unconsciously released Sonic. The golden hedgehog took the opportunity and used the last of his strength to escape.

With Shadow

Sonic sped by Shadow while smiling and saluting wit his two fingers. Surprisingly, Shadow smiled back before he turned hit attention back to Eclipse, whose eyes were wide in fear.

Shadow smirked. "THIS IS IT ECLIPSE!" Shadow shouted. Shadow retreated his hands slightly as the orb moved in perfect unison with him.

"CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!" Shadow shouted as he threw his arms forwards and released the attack. Immediately after, Shadow's last strength left him as he plummeted back to the small island below, with Knuckles and Amber helping the weary hedgehog up.

Meanwhile, the giant Chaos Comet continued to advance towards Eclipse, who was still stricken by fear. The white light radiating off the attack almost totally enveloped the monstrous beast.

Eclipse's bloodshot eyes widened even more as he snarled, showing his fanged teeth. Eclipse put both of his giant arms in front of him as the dark flame around his appeared once again. Then, with an explosion rivaling that of an atomic bomb, the attack made impact.

Eclipse's entire body became flooded with huge throbbing veins the second the attack made impact but he was successfully holding itback. Eclipse grimaced from the pressure slightly as the veins on his arms became bigger.

With the Group

Shadow's weary red eyes widened when he saw the Chaos Comet had stopped. "Impossible…" He murmured.

Knuckles, who was still holding on to Shadow, also spoke with disbelief. "There's no way!"

Sonic was completely stunned, shocked, and scared. "How can someone be that strong?"

Amber, who was also holding Shadow, spoke to him. "Shadow, launch one more Chaos attack on the Comet and it should do it!"

Shadow looked at her and shook his head sadly. "I…can't Amber. I've got nothing left." He glanced back at the emeralds, which were still all grey. "And the emeralds still haven't regained their power."

Amber's lip trembled. "It can't end like this."

With Eclipse

Eclipse laughed hysterically when the Chaos Comet moved back a little. "YES! NOTHING CAN STOP ME! I AM ALL POWERFUL!"

Suddenly, Eclipse retreated his arms slightly to form each into an arch shape. His clenched fists began to give ff a silver glow from the inside before he threw both of his arms forward, and opening his hands, releasing two giant Chaos Swords.

The two beams of energy impacted with the Chaos Comet as it was sent back down to its origin at incredible velocity.

With Shadow

The Chaos Comet's light now began to envelop the small island on which the heroes were standing.

"There has to be a way to stop it!" Rouge yelled through the loud sound of the incoming attack.

"We have to stop it!" Sonic yelled. "That attack can wipe out the entire planet!"

Knuckles squeezed his eyes shut in deep thought when suddenly a thought hit him. "Power is enriched by the heart!" He yelled.

The rest of the group gave him a confused look. "Now I finally know what it means!" Knuckles yelled excitingly. "The heart enriches Chaos! There is power within the heart. We all have Chaos powers within our bodies!"

The groups eyes widened in realization as Knuckles continued quickly, with the Chaos Comet advancing. "We have Chaos powers in our bodies, if we give it to Shadow, he should at least be able to transform into his Super form!"

Amber laughed. "Knuckles, I love you!" She shouted while kissing him on the cheek. "Gather around guys!"

The entire group huddled around Shadow and placed a hand onto his head. Everyone closed their eyes as a powerful light flowed from their bodies and into Shadow. Shadow's eyes snapped open as his fur burst to gold, knocking everyone back.

The Super hedgehog turned to the group. "Thank you." Shadow lifted off the ground and darted before the now dangerously close Chaos Comet with one hand outstretched. Eclipse's eyes widened when he saw Shadow back in his Super form.

"NO, IT CAN'T BE!" Eclipse yelled.

Shadow smirked as his entire body tensed. With one more tense of his right arm, he shot a burst of unseen Chaos energy at the Chaos Comet, sending it back faster than it came. The attack impacted with Eclipse again, who was again trying to hold it back.

Shadow gave another burst of energy as the attack almost pushed Eclipse back. His entire body now seemed to stick to the outside of the attack with his arms clawing the sides.

Shadow had his right arm pointed directly at the Chaos Comet holding Eclipse, with his left hand clenched at his side.

"It looks like the end of the road Eclipse!" He muttered. "It's a damn shame…"

_Flashback_

_Shadow followed Rouge up the ship's ramp and into the mechanical wonder. Just as Shadow was about to enter, a hard fist collided with his face, sending him flying off the ramp. "What the hell?"_

"_Hello Shadow, it's been a while."_

_Shadow whirled around to face his adversary. Standing before him was a hedgehog almost identical to himself. The only differences were that he was a white base color with silver highlights, silver eyes, and 2 top quills that pointed down instead of up, like Shadow's._

"_Who are you!" the infuriated hedgehog screamed._

"_Strange, that you don't remember your own brother."_

"_What did you say?"_

_At that point, Rouge, Sonic, and Tails ran out of the ship._

"_Shadow, are you alright?" Rouge asked as she came to his side, helping him back to his feet._

"_I'm fine."_

"_How pitiful."_

_Shadow and Rouge faced the silver hedgehog._

"_Tell me who you are!" Shadow screamed at his 'brother'._

"_I am Eclipse the Hedgehog, The TRUE Ultimate Life Form."_

"_What did you say?" the famous treasure hunter asked._

"_I am the true ultimate. That pathetic being you're holding up is nothing but a joke."_

_Tails and Sonic also came up to the dark hedgehog's side. "But you can't be, Shadow and I destroyed the other one over a year ago."_

"_Humph, you fool, that was the prototype. I was the very first creation after that. But after Professor Gerald tried to created a second and third, I was cast into the shadows of obscurity."_

"_What do you mean second AND third?" Tails asked._

"_Silence, I will prove once and for all that I am the true ultimate. Prepare to die Shadow!"_

"_Sorry, but if anyone is going to beat Shadow, it will be me." The azure hedgehog stated. "CHAOS CONTROL!"_

_And in a flash of green light, the group of heroes disappeared. Now all that was left was a furious silver hedgehog. "You cannot escape your past Shadow." And with that said, Eclipse sped into the ship and activated it. "Plot a course for Earth."_

_End Flashback_

Shadow smirked slightly. "You gave me quite a battle the first time I met you in a fight."

_Flashback_

_Shadow and Eclipse stood facing each other from across the street ready to fight._

"_It seems you are in a hurry to die Shadow."_

"_We will see about that."_

_Shadow kicked hard off of the ground and lunged at Eclipse. When he was about to make impact, Eclipse disappeared. "Damn, he can use chaos control." He muttered._

_Suddenly, Shadow felt a hard blow against his stomach as Eclipse kneed him there. Shadow fell to the floor coughing up blood. He looked up to find Eclipse gone again. Another blow came, this time at his face as he skidded to the ground again from the impact._

"_Okay, so you can teleport. But are you fast?" Shadow stated as he skated off._

_Eclipse reappeared beside him making the same foot motions he was. Shadow looked down and noticed that he was wearing white and grey versions of his hover shoes._

_Shadow aimed a kick to his head but Eclipse ducked and countered with 4 or 5 straight punches to the gut. Shadow toppled backwards before gaining control again. He looked up to see Eclipse standing 5 feet away from him._

"_You cannot defeat me Shadow. I have four emeralds while you only have one."_

"_One is all I need to beat you. CHAOS SPEAR!"_

_A bolt of yellow energy shot from Shadow's hand and flew towards Eclipse. The hedgehog raised his hand and swatted the attack away like a mere fly._

"_You'll have to do a lot better than that Shadow. Let me show you how it's done. CHAOS SWORD!_

_A much larger bolt of energy erupted from Eclipse's hand and flew towards Shadow who had no time to react and was struck in the chest hard. A gasp escaped his lips as he fell to the ground._

_Eclipse walked over to him._

"_Time to give me that emerald Shadow."_

_He stretched his hand out towards Shadow's chest. Before he could grab it a black bolt of energy struck his hand. He screamed out in pain and turned to where the attack came from._

_Standing before him were Rouge, Sonic ,and Tails. Rouge had released a Black Wave._

"_Get away from him." She screamed._

"_Yeah, leave him alone you creep." Sonic exclaimed._

"_I can't believe you are actually trying to save this piece of trash."_

_Suddenly a gloved fist collided hard with Eclipse's stomach. He bent over in pain only to get kicked hard in the face by Shadow's foot. Eclipse flew into a near by wall. Shadow collapsed to the ground from exhaustion. The others ran over to him._

"_Shadow are you O.K.?" Rouge asked as she helped him up._

"_I told you to stay away."_

"_Oh shush. You needed our help and you know it."_

"_Humph."_

_Sonic interrupted. "Guys, we're not done yet." He pointed over to Eclipse who was already standing._

"_Mark my words Shadow. I will be back. And the next time, your friends will feel my wrath as well." His body glowed silver before he disappeared_

_End Flashback_

Shadow smirked again. "It looked like not even death could conquer you…"

_Flashback_

_Shadow once again appeared before Eclipse who smirked._

"_Back for more?" He asked sarcastically._

"_Eclipse I will rid you of this world!"_

"_I would be frightened if you could actually do that."_

_Shadow smirked. "Well then, time to be afraid. CHAOS SPEAR!"_

_The attack erupted from Shadow's hand and shot off one of Eclipse's arms._

_The evil hedgehog screamed in pain which gave Shadow his chance._

_He took a power up stance as his body began to glow more and more bright._

"_N-NO, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Super Eclipse screamed after recovering and looking at the Hyper hedgehog._

_Shadow smirked._

"_CHAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOS….."_

_Shadow threw his arms, legs, and head back as he released his attack._

"_NOVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_

_A huge white explosion erupted from Shadow's body that consumed both super powered hedgehogs._

_Inside the light, Eclipse's body began to burn up slowly along with Shadow's._

_"Why you fool?" Eclipse stammered. Half of his and Shadow's body were now gone._

_Shadow smirked. "For Maria...and Rouge."_

_Shadow closed his eyes as the huge attack took the last of him and Eclipse._

_End Flashback_

Shadow's body tensed up. "But in the end, you went too far, and that pushed me beyond my limits."

_Flashback_

_Shadow followed his gaze and saw he was looking at Rouge. "No…" Shadow immediately tried to dash for Rouge to protect her when Eclipse beat him to her. Rouge didn't even have time to scream as Eclipse lifted her with his left claw and elevated himself far enough so the rest didn't reach him._

_Shadow looked totally despaired and Eclipse loved every second of it. Shadow watched in horror as Eclipse held Rouge in his tight grip. 'No! It can't be!' Shadow thought. It was all just like his nightmare._

"_THIS IS WHY YOU WILL NEVER BE A TRUE ULTIMATE LIFE FORM SHADOW" Eclipse bellowed at the horrified Shadow. With these words, the beast took one of his claws and stuck it forcefully into the white bat's stomach._

_Blood erupted from the wound as well as the bat's mouth as Shadow watched on in horror. The beast let go off the bat with a smirk plastered on his face. A primal scream echoed through the sky. Shadow then realized that it was his own. "ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUGE!"_

_Rouge landed on the ground with a heavy thud as the entire group was silent. Blood continued to pour out of the bat's stomach as she lay completely motionless. Amy, Amber, Sonic, and Knuckles all immediately ran over to her to check while the dark hedgehog known by the name of Shadow just stood there with his red eyes wide in disbelief and his right hand outstretched._

_Amy took a knee in front of her fallen friend and rolled Rouge over on her back to look at her face. The bat's eyes were closed and dry blood mixed with sweat and tears covered her face. The normal rising and falling of the stomach had ceased and it was easy to reach the inevitable conclusion._

_Everyone else waited in anticipation as a few tears trickled down Amber's cheek. Finally, Amy turned to the rest of the group and whispered almost silently. "She's dead…"_

_Even though a good few yards away, Shadow's sensitive ears picked up the pink hedgehog's words. He slowly lowered his right hand down to his side as he clenched both of his fists. A dull white energy started to surround the black hedgehog. Shadow's eyes widened in anger and sorrow._

_Amy and the others, who were by now weeping for their fallen friend, felt a strange gust of wind. They all looked back to see Shadow standing there, his fists were clenched and a white energy surrounded him._

_Eclipse smirked while observing Shadow. "HMM, I WONDER WHAT HE'S GONNA DO NOW? NOW THAT I PUT THAT BAT OUT OF COMISSION!"_

_The dull white energy surrounding Shadow burst to a much brighter tone as the unnatural wind around him also picked up. The dark hedgehog had already closed his eyes and his face was contorted._

_Amber, though frightened at this sudden phenomenon, stepped forth. "Shadow?" She asked quietly._

_Suddenly, Shadow's eyes shot wide open to reveal his pupils completely gone. Amy put her hand over her mouth and gasped. "What's…happening to him?"_

_Shadow's body tensed up even more as the energy surrounding him got brighter and brighter. His eyes were still pupil-less and he was now facing the ground. His lips were curved up to reveal his bared white teeth. The dark hedgehog's head seemed to be shaking slightly._

_Amber took another step towards her brother. "Shadow?" Still, no response. "Shadow please!" Once again, Shadow was silent. "ANSWER ME!" Amber yelled._

_Mimicking a machine, Shadow's head shot up as his completely white eyes seemed focused on her. Amber took a step back but stopped retreating when she heard Shadow's voice._

"_Rouge…"_

_Amber looked back at the dead bat behind her. All of a sudden, there was a bright burst of light as Amber looked back towards her brother. Even in his original state, he was hovering slightly as he brought his arms to his sides, fists still clenched. He looked to be in some what of a power up position._

"_Shadow?" Sonic asked._

"_ROOOOOUUUUUUGE!" Then, another flash of light blinded the group. Everyone's hands shot up out of instinct. Through their split fingers now covering their eyes however, they witnessed everything._

_In the blinding light, Shadow's black quills started to waver and stand on end. The black hedgehog closed his eyes again to hide their pupil-less state. Finally, something inside of Shadow sparked as he felt his true power, his true form, being released._

_Then, in less than a second, Shadow threw his entire body back. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_

_Shadow's fur erupted to a pure, beautiful white as the light subsided. His crimson streaks also disappeared with his black fur, leaving the hedgehog completely white. The blinding explosion of light subsided, as everyone, minus Eclipse, lowered their hands._

_Shadow floated barely above the ground with what looked like a huge white flame surrounding him. Many white sparks of pure energy danced around his body. Slowly, the hedgehog opened his eyes to reveal the pupils that inhabited them were back, only they were now a shinning golden._

_Everyone's mouth hung wide open. Swallowing a lump in his throat, Sonic spoke first. "Is that you Shadow?"_

_The white hedgehog turned to face him, but did not respond. Slowly, the now snow white hedgehog landed on the ground with a soft thud and proceeded over to the group. Everyone was on their feet by now and standing in front of Rouge's lifeless body._

_The hedgehog stopped right before the group. He slowly raised his head and gave them all a cold stare. Sensing the hedgehog's seriousness, the entire group moved to the side as Shadow proceeded to walk again._

_Shadow slowly approached Rouge and took a knee in front of her. As soon as his knee touched the ground, more energy sparks danced across his body. Shadow slowly lifted his hand and placed it on the bat's forehead._

_Shadow concentrated his energy for a second as a bright white light shone from the palm of his hand and onto Rouge. Shadow's entire body began to flare up with energy as more and more of the mystical light was transferred to the bat._

_The enormous form of Eclipse, along with the others looked on in great curiosity. "WHAT IS HE DOING?"_

_Rouge's entire body was now glowing, as was Shadow's. Slowly, the wound in the bat's stomach and the dried blood around her mouth all disappeared. Shadow kept transferring his energy to her and finally stopped as Rouge's body stopped glowing, along with his._

_Shadow stood back up and looked down upon Rouge. Slowly, the bat's body began to twitch slightly, but enough for everyone to see. Amy let out a gasp. "No way…"_

_Eclipse unfolded his arms and stared in shock. "IT CAN'T BE!"_

_But sure enough, the bat's eyes slowly began to open. Her emerald green eyes looked glazed over at first but soon regained their natural sparkle as Rouge focused on the figure in front of her. "Shadow?" She slightly murmured, barely opening her dry lips._

_And for the first time since his transformation, Shadow smiled. "Yes Rouge, it's me."_

_Rouge smiled slightly and tried moving her body. However, soon after the attempt at movement, a searing pain shot through her body as she let out a gasp. Shadow took a knee in front of her again. "Be still," He coaxed. "You're still hurt. Dying, after all, is very painful."_

_Even in her weak state, Rouge managed to scream. "DYING?"_

_Shadow nodded slightly. "Don't worry…It wasn't your time."_

_Rouge tilted her head slightly. "Then…how…did I…get back?"_

_The snow white hedgehog turned away slightly. "I'll tell you later, but right now I have some matters to attend to."_

_Rouge nodded weakly as Shadow stood back up. But before he could leave, Rouge spoke again, for the first time noticing Shadow's new appearance. "Shadow, what happened to you?"_

_Shadow turned to her and smiled. "You happened."_

_Rouge looked confused. "What?"_

"_It's because of you that I look like this, Omega was right." And with that said, Shadow walked back towards the rest of the group._

_End Flashback_

Shadow smiled as he gathered a golden Chaos Spear in the hand pointed towards the Chaos Comet. "I just wish we could've met under different circumstances." Shadow murmured slightly. "I'm sure we could have been allies, maybe even friends. Perhaps one day, we will." Shadow said hopefully.

The Chaos Spear in his hand was now full charged up. With his free hand, Shadow gave his brother a two finger salute(Like Sonic in the end of SA2).

Shadow smiled as energy sparks danced across his body. The rest of the group below had ecstatic looks plastered on their face as they all shouted up to the hedgehog in unison. "DO IT!"

More energy sparks danced across Shadow's body. "Sayonara, Eclipse the Hedgehog."

And with those final words Shadow released the final, battle-ending attack. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

With that scream, the giant Chaos Spear was launched at the Chaos Comet. With a huge explosion of sound, the attack made impact and sent the Chaos Comet, along with Eclipse, flying away.

Through the atmosphere they went, burning flesh and bone. Eclipse didn't bother to recover. He knew it was over. The attack continued and soon reached space, heading directly for the floating space station, Ark.

As the impact drew closer and closer, a final realization hit Eclipse. Meters before impact, Eclipse spoke again while smirking a little. "I GUESS YOU ARE THE BEST SHADOW, YOU ARE THE TRUE ULTIMATE..."

And with those final words, the Chaos Comet carrying Eclipse crashed into the Ark, totally annihilating the space station, as well as Eclipse in a fiery red inferno accompanied by a scream of defeat and pain that shook the heavens themselves.

Back on Earth

Shadow sighed as he descended back towards the small floating island. "It's finally over."

When the dark hedgehog landed, his Super form disappeared as he was greeted by flying hugs and praises. Shadow smiled as Rouge gave his weary body a huge hug. Shadow closed his eyes when he noticed the island began to rumble. He turned to the others.

"Quick, grab the emeralds and I'll get us out of here!" Shadow yelled.

Knuckles nodded and ran over to the emeralds with Sonic. The hedgehog and the echidna picked up the emeralds and held on to Shadow. The black hedgehog grabbed the green Chaos Emerald out of Sonic's hand, since his Chaos power was completely depleted.

Shadow looked at the rest of the group. "Hold on…" He murmured. Shadow smirked as he lightly tossed the emerald in the air and caught it again. "CHAOS CONTROL!" Shadow shouted and in a green flash of light, they were gone.

Station Square Park

Trees, benches and buildings lay demolished from the heavy battle that took place. Through the fiery inferno however, one single statue stood tall above the debris. The sun slowly rose as the sky cleared, showing the statue of a familiar hedgehog that now, instead of a frown, wore a warm smile.

I see no, hear no evil.

Black writings on the wall!

Unleashed a million faces,

And one by one they fall.

Black-hearted evil,

Brave-hearted hero,

I am all, I am all I am...

I... I... I... I am!

Here we go buddy,

Here we go buddy,

Here we go.

Here we go buddy,

Here we go.

Go ahead and try to see through me,

Do it if you dare!

One step forward, two steps back now

I'm here... (One step forward, two steps back)

Do it, do it, do it, DO IT!

Can you see all of me?

Walk into my mystery,

Step inside and hold on for dear life.

Do you remember me?

Capture you or set you free,

I am all, I am all of me.

(I am, I am all of me!)

I am... I am, I'm all of me.

I am... I am, I'm all of me.

I am... I am, I'm all of me.

Here we go!

I see and feel the evil,

My hands will crush 'em all.

You think you have the answer,

Well I laugh and watch you fall!

Black-hearted evil

Brave-hearted hero

I am all, I am all I am...

I... I... I... I am!

Here we go buddy,

Here we go buddy,

Here we go.

Here we go buddy,

Here we go.

Go ahead and try to see through me,

Do it if you dare!

One step forward, two steps back now

I'm here... (One step forward, two steps back)

Do it, do it, do it, DO IT!

Can you see all of me?

Walk into my mystery,

Step inside and hold on for dear life.

Do you remember me?

Capture you or set you free,

I am all, I am all of me.

(I am, I am all of me!)

I am... I am, I'm all of me.

I am... I am, I'm all of me.

I am... I am, I'm all of me.

Here we go!

I am...

I am everyone, everywhere, anyhow, any way, any will, any day...

I am...

I am everyone, everywhere, anyhow, any way, any will, any day...

I am! I am! I am!

I am! I am! I am!

I am!

Do it, do it, do it, do it!

Can you see all of me?

Walk into my mystery,

Step inside and hold on for dear life.

Do you remember me?

Capture you or set you free,

I am all, I am all of me.

(I am, I am all of me!)

I am... I am, I'm all of me.

I am... I am, I'm all of me.

I am... I am, I'm all of me.

Here we go!

I am, I am all of me...

By: Crush 40

Author's Note- Well, there it is, the finale to The True Ultimate. I would like to thank all my readers and reviewers, especially Sonic Ruler, shadrougeforever, and UltrraShaddow for really inspiring me. Thank you all!

_Special Sneak Peek_

_After the final battle with Eclipse, Shadow and the heroes are once again at peace. This is all shaken however, when G.U.N. wants Project Shadow as their own once again_. _Will Shadow be able to handle G.U.N. as he did before or will the darkness consume him?_

_An Ultimate's Wrath_

_Coming Soon_


End file.
